


How to Dance with RainWings

by Quasimagical



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Shipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-11-16 23:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11263560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quasimagical/pseuds/Quasimagical
Summary: Deathbringer had never anticipated the harsh reality of being pushed away by the love of his life. But when the RainWing queen presents him with a new assignment, he finds himself trapped in the middle of an even more puzzling predicament. AU.





	1. One

Deathbringer awoke to the prickly feeling of being watched. And of course, when he opened his eyes, the anxious face of a RainWing guard suddenly ducked out of the royal treehouse entrance way. The NightWing blinked, but as he noticed the empty space next to him, realization very quickly dawned.

_ Not again... _

With a growl of exasperation, Deathbringer jumped to his feet, and darted after his company.

"Banana!" he called as he burst through the hanging curtain-door of silvery yellow flowers and out into the sun-dappled rainforest. He frantically scanned the area around him until he spotted the guards sitting together on a large tree branch. "By the moons, what are you all doing here!? How long has she been gone!?"

Banana and Heliconia exchanged nervous glances as the other RainWings shifted on their talons. 

"Um," Banana began.

Heliconia glanced his way again before gingerly taking a step closer to the edge of the branch and picking up where his stammer left him. "We don't exactly know, I'm afraid," she paused for a breath. "Her Majesty is getting very good at sneaking away with her camouflage. We must have missed her again."

"We're super sorry!" one of the other guards piped up.

Deathbringer blinked at them all, rather severely. This was the  _ third  _ time this week that Glory had slipped away before dawn, with  _ no one  _ noticing. He wanted nothing more than to hiss and scold the guards for this level of incompetence, but he also knew very well that such tactics were as useless as trying to drown a SeaWing.

So instead, with stifled frustrations in the form of a tail lash, he sighed.

"Right," he answered. "Well, if that's the case, then I must be off to find her. You all should do the same."

"Yes, of course," said another guard, almost too quickly.

But Deathbringer barely took notice as he hurriedly leapt into another nearby tree, in the direction of the queen's royal pavilion. 

The pavilion had become the default first place he searched whenever Glory disappeared; she wasn't always there, but she was there a lot, which made it a logical first choice if you asked him. Plus, it was just about in the center of everything, and there were bound to be at least a few other dragons there, who may or may not had seen her pass by. 

As he gracefully maneuvered himself between the many branches and vines along the way, Deathbringer tried to ignore the discomforting thoughts that were already creeping up on him. He didn't  _ want  _ to feel guilty about his persistence in keeping his queen close and safe at all times. Even if he knew that was the exact reason she'd taken to running off so frequently. And even if it made his heart sink even more to know that she was going as far as using her camouflage to get away from him now.

What exactly had gradually grown between them ever since they'd officially acknowledged themselves as a mated pair, he'd no idea.

Everything had been perfect. Or so he'd thought. Until he'd noticed something just a  _ little  _ bit different in those playful glares and teasing words that had always left him dizzy with desire and itching for more every time. Now, it seemed like ages since  _ any  _ of their interactions had given off those same magnetic sparks. 

She was tired of him.

And he knew it.

And he refused to accept it.

The NightWing finally reached the pavilion, accidentally startling a group of colorful birds as he burst through the trees and landed on the platform that rested outside the doorway. He took a few seconds to compose himself before poking his snout inside, but of course, his queen wasn't there. With a quiet groan of disappointment, Deathbringer turned to look around. To his luck, he nearly immediately spotted a rather sleepy-looking RainWing peeking down at him from a hammock.

The dragon, whose scales were a peaceful shade of pale indigo, didn't even budge as Deathbringer spread his wings and flew up to greet him.

"Hello, friend," he began, trying to sound calm and cordial. "Forgive me for any intrusion, but I was just wondering if you'd seen the queen pass by here?"

The dragon blinked, very slowly, and then asked, "Queen Glory?"

_ No, the other queen,  _ he wanted to say, but he kept that snide remark to himself and stopped himself from rolling his eyes. As frustratingly slow as so many of these dragons could be, he'd taken to viewing them as just as valid members of his tribe as NightWings. And as the queen's mate, he couldn't help but feel responsible for caring for them with the same grace that she always adorned herself with.

"Yes," he said instead.

The RainWing blinked again, but only shrugged his wings before replying, "Sorry."

Unsurprised by this answer, Deathbringer bowed his head politely, and turned to continue his search with an internal sigh. 

His next stop was the Arboretum, which was as peacefully resplendent as it always was. Many dragons of different colors strolled along the vine walkways, while others formed lines outside the fruit and flower trading huts. Deathbringer even spotted a few NightWings poking curiously around the kingdom's heart, but no sign of Queen Glory. He wrinkled his snout at the brightly cascading sun rays as he looked up and around the shimmering treetops just to be sure. All he saw were sloths and monkeys and birds, contentedly chirruping and singing along with the pleasant murmuring of dragon voices. 

Nonetheless, he caught words with a few more of his tribemates, but to no avail of getting any closer to his queen's whereabouts. 

As he left the Arboretum, a rather unpleasant thought slithered its way into the back of his mind, that she  _ could _ still be using her camouflage to stay hidden, knowing that he would be searching the rainforest for her. But he pushed that worry aside; if only for her subjects, Glory almost never hid herself like that for very long. Not to mention, Deathbringer couldn't recall a single time he  _ hadn't  _ found her soon enough, just as visible and queenly as ever.

He was just about ready to give up after checking a few other places that either seemed logical or were simply where he'd found her before. But there was still one place he hadn't checked -- the NightWing village. 

It was definitely worth a shot. Even if he hadn't found her there yet, her presence among her NightWing citizens was far from infrequent. So with yet another burst of patience, the assassin took a turn in that direction.

At the sight of black scales and ramshackle huts growing in the distance, Deathbringer felt a renewed spark of determination.  _ She's got to be somewhere,  _ he fervently reminded himself. So strong was this intent, in fact, that he nearly completely missed her.

Deathbringer suddenly skidded to a sharp halt on the large tree branch he'd just made a leap for, as a quick flicker of orange-red caught his eye. Effortlessly, he steadied himself, and looked down from his spot, to where he thought the color-flash had come from. And sure enough, several branches lower, sat the ever-beautiful Queen Glory.

He felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of her.

_ She knows I'm here,  _ his brain immediately pounced on his emotions, reminding him of the fiery hue he'd seen from her scales only seconds ago. No doubt evoked by him. His chest fell with a silent sigh as he noticed as well that she had chosen a rather tricky hiding spot this time -- right at the edge of the NightWing village, but not quite in it, probably in the hopes that if he  _ did  _ come this way, he'd run right past her. Which, he nearly had. And while she wasn't properly camouflaged, she had still opted into a soft, muted brown that blended nicely with the tree bark around her. 

She was definitely, unabashedly avoiding him. It made him feel like his own scales were changing to the color of overcast skies. He was very thankful they weren't.

Deathbringer took a moment to smother his woes before he very gently dropped down branch to branch, until he landed almost soundlessly alongside Glory. He then cleared his throat. The queen didn't look up at him; she was too busy pretending to be more interested in the scroll she was looking at. 

So after a few more seconds of silence, he said, "Glory?"

Emerald green eyes glanced up to meet his. "Deathbringer."

"Must you do this?" he chanced the rather bold question, furrowing his brow. 

Glory kept her gaze locked in her reading this time, but couldn't prevent the slight twitch of her tail. "Do what?" she asked him, her voice low and calm.

"Oh, come now. I know I've mentioned to you more than once how worrying it is to wake up and find the queen missing without a trace. Especially for the one responsible for her safety." He kept his own voice soft and kind and hopeful. Even if he didn't exactly expect that little touch to accomplish much. 

"And I know I've mentioned to  _ you _ more than once that I'm just as responsible for my own safety as you are," she replied with confidence, and then added, "I'm not helpless."

"I don't think you are," Deathbringer assured her. "I'm only providing you with extra precaution. Even the most capable of us can't  _ always _ do it alone. So, I ask again -- must you do this?"

Glory's scroll crinkled under her talons as her grip on the paper tightened ever so slightly. Another flicker of red-orange danced along her ruff, and vanished back into brown just as quickly. Deathbringer somehow managed to stop himself from wincing. 

His queen cast a side-eyed glance away without meeting his eyes. Then firmly, she said, "Deathbringer... Please, stop. I really have no desire to keep having this argument with you. I just wanted a moment,  _ alone,  _ to look over these reports in peace. You were asleep, anyway. I didn't want to wake you. Nothing happened. I am perfectly safe and well. You're here now. And I don't want to discuss it further."

The NightWing only stared at her for a moment, in helpless defeat. Every fiber of his being itched to continue the conversation, to hear the  _ real  _ reasons she hadn't woken him up. But he also didn't want to face that truth yet, at all. And as much as he loved her, she was still, first and foremost, his queen. So politely, he bowed.

"Understood, my queen."

Finally, she met his eyes again, with something that at least appeared to be an attempt at gratitude. Whether it actually was, he couldn't tell. And before he could analyze it, she'd already returned to studying her reports.

An awkward silence hovered between them as the tension slowly dissipated. Nowadays, of course, it never seemed to escape them completely; but less of it was still much preferred to more. Deathbringer soon found himself settled comfortably next to her on the chosen tree branch.

He was  _ just  _ about to suggest heading back to the royal pavilion when the ear-piercing roar of a furious NightWing suddenly boomed through the rainforest. Both Glory and Deathbringer jumped as a flock of bright yellow birds took to the air with a burst of panicked squawking. The two dragons then looked at one another in worried confusion before quickly turning their attention down to the outskirts of the NightWing village.

Down below them and just a short ways off, right along the unofficial borders, stood a burly female NightWing and a bristling male RainWing, clearly facing off. A few other NightWings stood close by, hissing and lashing their tails threateningly. Though not as loudly as her roar, Deathbringer could clearly hear the NightWing shouting insults as well. But from the looks of it, the RainWing was just as angry, and fiercely stood his ground.

Glory caught Deathbringer's eye again. She motioned with a small nod and one graceful flick of her tail before she leapt off their tree branch and spread her wings, letting a majestic shade of deep purple roll over her scales. Deathbringer didn't hesitate to follow her descent to the rainforest floor. 

The biting voices of the two dragons in conflict became clearer as queen and bodyguard approached the commotion.

"I  _ told  _ you, I didn't steal  _ anything!"  _

"Oh, save your breath, you pathetic, lying worm! All you RainWings are the  _ same!  _ I saw you eyeing our fruit pile, and we all know you lazy lot would much sooner swipe another's lunch than lift a talon to work for yourselves!"

The RainWing hissed, baring his fangs in response to the harsh words even if they all knew he wouldn't dream of actually hurting anyone.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Queen Glory announced her presence from behind them.

The livid group of dragons all immediately dropped their defenses and turned to their queen. Glory stood with her golden-tipped wings spread and her head held high, giving them her full attention as she waited for an explanation. Deathbringer stood at her side, very glad she hadn't had to confront this dispute alone. There was no doubt, of course, that she could handle it; but it certainly never hurt to remind her NightWing subjects that one of  _ their  _ dragons was also Her Majesty's most trusted royal bodyguard. 

The NightWing's eyes narrowed at Deathbringer and Glory, before darting back to the RainWing. Her tail lashed dangerously just as she jabbed a talon toward him. "This  _ slimy lizard  _ of yours is a thief!" she snarled.

Flaring his wings, the RainWing jumped back. He shot Glory a helpless look.

"I am  _ not!"  _ he protested. "I don't even know what she's talking about!"

Glory hesitated for only the briefest of seconds. 

"Could you be a little more specific?" she asked calmly, taking another step forward. 

Deathbringer stayed back a bit as she took the lead. He watched her, the male RainWing, the female NightWing and her company intently. At this point, he'd no idea if the accusation was true or false. And if he was reading the subtle hints of Glory's body language correctly, neither did she. 

The NightWing hissed. "He's stolen our fruits!"

"I've done nothing of the sort!"

"And you  _ would  _ say that, wouldn't you!? Lying wastrel! Admit it!"

_ She's this worked up over a few fruits?  _ Deathbringer couldn't help but ask himself. His brain quickly responded to his own question with images of life back on the volcano.  _ Perhaps she's still a bit possessive with her food.  _ He wondered if Glory had also had this thought.

A glimmer of orange tried to creep up the queen's neck as the argument continued to escalate. Deathbringer watched her clamp down on the frustration before it could spread any further. He really couldn't even begin to imagine the full difficulties of mediating so much intertribal tension. 

"Alright. That's enough," Glory firmly interjected, silencing the bristling opponents. "Let's get to the bottom of this without all the needless insults, shall we?" She turned to the NightWing. "Do you have any proof behind this accusation?"

The NightWing snorted, and Deathbringer couldn't tell whether she looked more offended at being questioned, or pleased that she'd been addressed first. Haughtily, she lifted herself a bit. "I most certainly do," she answered. She then pointed to a pile of assorted fruits that two of her tribemates were now guarding fiercely. "We had _seven_ clawmentines gathered before this scoundrel came slinking by. And now they're all gone! He's taken them!"

"How is that proof!?" demanded the RainWing, whose scales were darting frantically between red, black, and green. "It could've been anyone! Do I look like I've got any fruits?"

He opened his wings again and presented empty talons, giving the queen another pleading look. Everything in his pitiful expression screamed soundlessly of complete and utter confusion. At this point, Deathbringer was pretty sure the entire fiasco was probably just one giant misunderstanding. He dared not interrupt Glory, though. 

Deathbringer watched as she scrutinized the two dragons for another moment. She did very well to appear just as cool and confident as ever, apart from the tiniest twitch of her tail. He guessed she was having just as much trouble as he was in deciding what exactly the most appropriate response was to such a situation.

"Both of you," she finally began. "should return to your duties for the day. I'll have my guards organize an investigation as soon as possible, so this matter can be settled properly."

"WHAT!?" the two dragons cried in near unison. Neither of them looked the least bit satisfied with Glory's resolution.

The RainWing stamped one of his back talons. "But there's  _ nothing  _ to investigate!"

"This criminal should be punished  _ now!"  _ his accuser snarled over his protest. 

Deathbringer tensed, unsure of what to expect next. Glory only closed her eyes for a moment, and raised a talon to silence them. 

She said, "I will  _ not  _ be punishing anyone without first providing an official investigation. We will decide what steps to take next from there, if anything is uncovered. Now I'll say again -- you are  _ both  _ to return to your work for now. There is nothing productive that will come from standing here shouting at one another." 

"Of  _ course,"  _ the burly female dragon grumbled loudly, rolling her eyes as she turned to stomp away. "Protect the lying RainWing."

The RainWing eyed Glory with an injured look, as if he couldn't believe the allegation against him hadn't been immediately dismissed. He opened and closed his mouth, hesitating a moment before he settled on dipping down into a small bow. Patches of black and green still pulsed over his scales as he slipped off in the opposite direction. 

The queen didn't move for few seconds. She tucked her chin, gazing down at the forest floor, clearly trying to keep her own emotions from being displayed. Deathbringer stared at her without a clue of what to say, despite knowing how upset it made her when her efforts to please both her tribes ended in pleasing no one at all. He eventually settled on a logical thought.

"Shall we return to the pavilion?" he gently asked.

Glory glanced sideways at him. Briefly, she met his eyes, but she still didn't speak. 

She hesitated for another second, then turned to silently approve the suggestion. Or so Deathbringer assumed, as they were headed in the appropriate direction. 

The assassin could practically feel the negative energy that radiated off his mate as they made their way back to the center of the kingdom. He racked his brain, but to no avail, for anything he could do that might comfort her. He hated to admit that he really had no idea what to expect in response to such efforts. 

_ No...  _ He stopped himself from trying to extend a wing toward her.  _ Not a good idea.  _

He hoped she hadn't noticed as he quickly tucked it back in. Glory hated being touched. Which was relatively new information to him, but apparently it had always been the case. Deathbringer thought sadly of all the times he'd probably made her uncomfortable, none the wiser. Why had she waited so long to tell him? 

Why hadn't he figured it out sooner?

Was he  _ that  _ blind by his feelings for her?

Or was he just ignorant?

Not that it made much difference now. 

He was still adjusting to the changes...including the inevitable lack of intimacy. Lately, it seemed almost as if there was nothing physically romantic between them at all. But he refused to let that be their downfall. One thing he'd always prided himself on was his adaptability. He didn't  _ need  _ anything else, as long as she still loved him. 

Perhaps there was something he could say instead that might calm her nerves a bit.

_ If she wasn't still upset with me... _

Silently, he sighed. He'd nearly forgotten the argument they'd had earlier, thanks to the one that had them all prickled up now. Or at least, had Glory all prickled up. Should he risk irritating her further, in the hopes that the effect might be the opposite? There was always the chance that she'd already moved on, and wasn't even bothered by him anymore.

But honestly, he didn't have much faith in  _ any  _ of his ideas right now.

There was no telling what would bring about a positive outcome. Glory, of course, had always been a rather difficult dragon to read. But never had he doubted himself so much, as he had been lately. His own mate, and he didn't even know how to properly console her.

When they arrived back at the royal pavilion, Glory's sloth Silver didn't hesitate to drop onto her shoulders and wrap her long, furry arms around her neck with a sympathetic burble. Deathbringer watched dejectedly as his queen welcomed the affection. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> decided to start working on a story from my main Wings of Fire AU. brace yourselves.


	2. Two

It wasn't  _ guilt,  _ exactly.

After all, those days were long gone.

But Glory still never knew how she was supposed to react whenever her day was rudely interrupted by annoying memories that did absolutely  _ nothing  _ to make her life any easier.

* * *

_ Young Glory sat in awkward silence, staring down at the cold, rocky floor as she listened to Tsunami's excited chattering about Clay. The two dragonets were currently alone in their sleeping cave. _

_ "I mean, don't get me wrong, Starflight is pretty adorable. But he can also be  _ really  _ annoying, y'know?" Tsunami said, in such a matter-of-fact way that Glory wasn't sure if she was expecting an answer or not.  _

_ The RainWing glanced up at her. When she only stared back with large eyes, Glory answered, "Sure." _

_ Starflight was annoying sometimes, a bit, she supposed. She didn't think she'd ever found him as annoying as Tsunami did, judging by how often the SeaWing whined at him, but honestly she just wanted this conversation to end already.  _

_ "Clay is  _ never  _ annoying," Tsunami went on, completely unaware. "And he's so sweet! And very handsome. And he doesn't start an argument with me over every ridiculously pointless little thing ever." _

_ She paused to roll her eyes and take another big breath. "ANYWAY, that's why I've decided that I'd much rather marry Clay than Starflight, if I had to choose." The sea dragon stifled a snort. "Not that I have any other options, until we get out of here." _

_ Glory stiffened a bit. She kept her gaze down on her scales for a moment, making sure nothing was rippling through them that she'd rather keep to herself. Though, it wasn't especially likely that Tsunami would be able to decipher the meanings behind her colors. Or even care enough to try. Or so Glory hoped. _

_ "Heh. Yeah," she nervously replied. _

_ Tsunami blinked, and narrowed her eyes at her.  _

_ For a horrible moment, Glory thought she might have assumed wrong. But then her friend brightened into a curious smile, and tilted her head slightly. _

_ "So what about you?" she asked. _

_ "What?" Glory said, nearly surprised. _

_ Tsunami giggled, as if she thought it was cute that Glory had reacted that way. Cute in the way Glory  _ didn't  _ appreciate. "Well, I just told you all about  _ my  _ feelings. Haven't  _ you _ ever crushed on Clay or Starflight?"  _

_ Glory only stared at her in silence. _

_ After the awkward pause, she opened her mouth, trying to find words. But nothing came out.  _

_ "Uhm," she barely managed. _

_ Very luckily, in just the nick of time, a tiny SandWing came barreling into their sleeping cave. Sunny slammed into Tsunami, giggling, and Tsunami let out a startled yelp as both dragonets toppled to the floor. Silently, Glory sighed with relief. It wasn't until the tip of her tail relaxed that she realized how tightly coiled it had been.  _

_ "Oof! Sunny! What in three moons is wrong with you!?" Tsunami said. She pushed their smaller friend off and picked herself back up with a huff.  _

_ "Sorry." Sunny drooped a little, actually looking pretty apologetic for a second. But in the next second, she perked up again. "I was just coming to get you. We're playing tribes again and we need a SeaWing queen!" _

_ Tsunami, suddenly alert, straightened herself and puffed her chest with a proud grin. "Oh?" _

_ "C'mon!" the golden dragonet giggled, then happily turned to Glory. "You too, Glory! It's always more fun with all of us." She flicked her harmless tail and darted out of the sleeping cave. Tsunami followed after her, leaving Glory alone to recover from their previous discussion, if only for a moment. _

_ But as thankful as she was for that moment, Glory couldn't help but wonder just how Tsunami would react, if she ever found out the truth.  _

* * *

It had never been Clay or Starflight.

It had always been Tsunami. 

Which, quite frankly, had always been just as frustrating as it had been alluring. Of ALL the dragons Glory could have fallen for in her younger years under the mountain.  _ Tsunami.  _ Loud, bossy, obnoxiously self-assured Tsunami. The only dragon who could be more insufferable than Deathbringer. Nothing about that crush had ever made a lick of sense to her. 

And yet, she could vividly remember a time in her life in which secretly brooding over Tsunami had felt just as natural to her as being a RainWing dragonet. Even knowing all too painfully well that she would never be loved back. 

She was very relieved that time was over. 

So why in Pyrrhia the sassy SeaWing was on her mind so much lately, Glory had no idea. 

Perhaps she just couldn't help wondering how different things might be for her now if she'd ended up with someone other than Deathbringer. 

_ Ouch. _

That definitely  _ was  _ guilt.

Glory fidgeted her wings as tiny specks of aubergine trickled down her spine. As far as she knew, she was alone right now, but she still hurried to chase the color away. 

It wasn't that she didn't love her mate. She focused for a moment, on the memories of beckoning chills and butterflies that took her breath away. The way she could listen to his stupid, sexy voice and look at his stupid, smarmy face all day if time would allow it. But, almost as quickly as she'd allowed Deathbringer into the dusty nook of her heart that had once been reserved for Tsunami...so much had changed.

"Hey."

The queen started out of her daydreams at the sudden interruption.

She blinked a couple of times before turning her attention to the very dragon who also happened to be the star of those daydreams. 

Deathbringer offered her a kind smile. "Would you mind a bit of company?"

The RainWing couldn't help another blink as she wrinkled her brow, pretty taken aback by such words. She resisted the urge to ask for clarification that she did, in fact, have a choice in the matter. And for a moment, she only stared at him.

_ Don't lash out,  _ Glory berated herself early.  _ He's...trying. _

"Go ahead," she said in the end. She dipped her head to him before budging over so he could lie down next to her on the royal pavilion platform. Gingerly, the NightWing did just that. 

Things in the Rainforest had quieted down a lot since the commotion a few days ago. Glory had sent a few of her guards to investigate, as promised, but the only information they'd managed to uncover were the names of the accused and the accuser. No evidence whatsoever. That hadn't surprised Glory, of course. She was  _ pretty  _ sure Fireclaws was just doing that really annoying tribeist NightWing thing. And poor Cashew had just been unfortunate enough to be passing by when she'd needed someone else to blame for her own mishaps. 

Glory inhaled the warming scents of rainfall and sunkissed leaves, focusing on the peace around her instead, for now. The quiet drip-dropping from sprinkling clouds above the canopy was just about the only sound she could hear apart from a few chirping insects and birds hiding nearby. One wouldn't expect even a hint of hostility in her kingdom on days like these.

She exhaled softly, and turned again to her mate. "Any exciting news, then?"

To her surprise, Deathbringer then lifted his gaze to the sky with a rather amused-looking expression.

"Well," he began. "Believe it or not, we just caught a few naughty dragonets sneaking back from their adventures through the tunnel to the Kingdom of Sand."

Glory blinked her eyes wide, startled. "Three moons! Should we set up some kind of punishment? ...We've got to find a way to block that thing off."

"Being lost in the desert with no water for a couple of days seems to be punishment enough, I'd say," he said with a shrug. Then with a cheeky little grin, he added, "They're already telling the other dragonets how dreadful it was." 

The queen fluttered her wings a bit as she settled herself and the starbursts of green in her scales.  _ Punishment enough or not...  _ "That still sounds very dangerous. Especially for dragonets," she replied.

"Indeed," Deathbringer said with a nod. His teasing nature appeared to be put on hold as he gathered his next words. "Which is why I've been thinking. Perhaps we should consider adding some sort of...combat training? survival tactics? to the school curriculums? Hm?"

With an arched brow, Glory eyed him up and down. "What, like an assassin's club or something?" 

The NightWing rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide his amusement at her joke. "More like  _ self-preservation  _ club. Forgive me for any disrespect, but, without the constant support of their  _ terribly  _ clever sleeping darts, I'm not sure how well our RainWings fare in life-threatening situations. Although, if Your Highness  _ insists _ on an assassin's club as well...I am a professional."

Glory blinked slowly at the winning smile and slight bow of the head he finished with. He wasn't wrong. But she was also enjoying this conversation. Tease-matches with Deathbringer in the midst of serious matters were always nice. As long as he didn't try to touch her. Or follow her every single step.

"Sounds like  _ you _ expect to be the president of this,  _ self-preservation _ club," she pointed out.

"So it's a go, then?" he said, sounding very pleased with himself. "I knew you'd see it my way. You are a sensible dragon, after all."

Glory gave him a rather significant look. "Excuse me? Did  _ I  _ say that?"

"Oh, don't worry, love. We can just say it was your idea. I don't mind at all," he boldly answered her.

The queen snorted. 

"Though I must say," he went on. "Having me run this department would definitely have its benefits, if that is your wish. I am  _ great  _ with kids. And all that experience training them will surely come in quite handy for training my own someday as well."

As Deathbringer ended his sentence, Glory felt the unmistakable sensation of a wing creeping its way over her back. 

She froze.

And then her mate's words finally sunk in.

Before Glory even found time to reconsider first instincts, her reflexes kicked in; she started swiftly away from the affection, sitting up to ensure her success as tiny spark waves of dark emerald raced along her wings and ruff. But that was all it took to completely change the atmosphere around them both. Glory kept her hard stare on the leaf platform below her even after her panic subsided. She  _ really  _ didn't want to see the pain in Deathbringer's eyes.

An abrasive silence fell over them.

She soon stammered, "I'm not having dragonets. Not anytime soon."

"I-I didn't mean soon. I was just—"

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry, Deathbringer. I need to be alone."

Glory got to her talons and ready to excuse herself, still avoiding his gaze. She felt twin stabs of guilt and annoyance as Deathbringer worriedly scrambled up beside her. 

"Where are you going!?" he demanded.

Finally, she glared his way. "Please don't follow me."

She didn't wait for another response, even if she could hear her mate calling to her as she took to the trees. Though to her surprise, his calls quickly grew quiet, and she  _ wasn't  _ chased by the sounds of frantically rustling branches. 

He was definitely trying.

_ But not hard enough,  _ echoed the part of her mind that indeed knew exactly what he'd been doing. 

Not that she blamed him for wanting things to be the way they used to be again, before she'd started taking extra measures to avoid him, and confessed her feelings about being touched by him. Nothing about his attempts to test the waters were unnatural or unexpected. He just couldn't seem to realize how much she  _ didn't  _ appreciate such advances. 

He also couldn't seem to realize that she'd only told him a filtered version of the truth that day.

Oh, how she wanted to be as deeply in love with him as she had been with the idea of him, before they'd decided to pursue anything serious. She didn't know  _ why  _ she wasn't anymore.

_ Don't I, though?  _ whispered her traitorous thoughts.

Glory stopped when she reached a comely clearing decorated with iridescent plants and a wide vine walkway, that looked sufficient enough to provide her with the stillness she so desperately needed. The last thing she wanted right now was the distracting fog of  _ another  _ frustrating memory. But as hard as she tried to focus on anything else, her brain only continued to betray her. 

* * *

_ "So...you're serious about Deathbringer? Like...this is for real?" _

_ Starflight's bold question was instantly followed by a wave of awkward surprise. Glory, for one, had no clue how to answer. She'd never actually expected to be asked about such a thing in the first place. Especially by him. _

_ "Why wouldn't it be?" she finally said. _

_ The NightWing's brow furrowed under the bandage that covered his eyes. Carefully, he asked, "And it definitely wouldn't have anything to do with the politics of intertribal relations?" _

_ The tone of honest skepticism in Starflight's voice made Glory cringe with something she'd never felt towards him before. Surely he couldn't be... _

_ She snapped before she could stop herself, almost instinctively. _

_ "What are you getting at, Starflight?" _

_ He froze. _

_ Then he sighed. _

_ "You're mad now, aren't you?" he asked miserably. "Look...I'm not trying to criticize your personal life. I just... I know..." _

_ A few ripples of ruby and emerald crept slowly up the back of Glory's neck.  _

_ "You know  _ what?"  _ She dared him to continue. _

_ He went silent for another moment, tilting his head down and away nervously, even if there was no way he could look into her face anymore if he wanted to. His black talons fidgeted slightly. _

_ Glory wasn't sure if her intuition was  _ entirely  _ right. But she was pretty sure it wasn't wrong.  _

_ She and Starflight had never actually spoken about her past feelings for Tsunami (or his past crush on Clay, for that matter), but there had always been an uncanny level of understanding between the two of them. Far too easily, she could recall the countless little moments they'd shared back under the mountain: all the bashful, knowing glances and silent gestures born from relatable experiences. He was the only other dragon who'd ever known anything about her deepest secret.  _

_ And now he had the nerve to act like that gave him grounds to question her romantic choices? As if it was any of his business at all.  _

_ "Glory, I just care about you, okay?" he said. "I don't want to see you forcing yourself into a relationship. With anyone. For any reason." _

_ Glory hoped she was glaring hard enough for him to feel it through every stupid scale. _

_ "And  _ why  _ would you rudely assume that that's what I'm doing?"  _

_ "Because, you're—" he stopped, clearing his throat awkwardly. "You don't— Do you even like males?" _

_ She could certainly think of  _ one _ male she didn't like right now. But she knew that wasn't what he was talking about.  _

_ "I like  _ Deathbringer,"  _ she hissed. "And I'm not  _ forcing _ myself into anything. Not that it's any of your concern." _

_ Starflight winced at her response, and immediately started stammering back. "I-I know it's not! I'm sorry. My intentions were not to upset you. If I'm totally wrong to be concerned, all you have to do is tell me, and I'll shut up and go away. Believe me, I'd  _ much _ rather just be happy for you." _

_ Any attempt to stifle her contempt, Glory was done with. _

_ "Okay, great. You're totally wrong. So shut up, and go away." _

* * *

He was definitely wrong.

He  _ had  _ to be wrong. 

Even if she still felt pretty guilty about how she'd reacted to his blatant wrongness. He hadn't meant any harm, after all. That she knew. Maybe she hadn't known at the time. But she knew  _ him.  _ And he definitely knew her, probably better than any of her other friends. 

So why in Pyrrhia then, would he assume she only liked females, based on  _ one  _ crush? Did she  _ seem  _ like that type of dragon? What did gay dragons even seem like? 

Glory thought bitterly about Starflight's other past crush, on Sunny. She'd never questioned him about  _ that _ . Of course, Sunny had been his first and longest crush; she wasn't even sure if he was over it yet, despite having Fatespeaker now. 

...Did he think she'd been secretly in love with Sunny, too? 

_ No.  _ He certainly wouldn't have reacted to that theory well. She couldn't recall a single instance of him giving  _ her  _ the same jealous looks he'd always shot at Clay whenever he'd caught the MudWing cuddling with Sunny. Admittedly, it'd been pretty hilarious when all that jealousy became muddled with everything else he was feeling and she could never tell whether he was more annoyed with Clay or himself. 

But, her point to herself was: if  _ he  _ could fall for a female or a male, why couldn't she? Where was the logic? With a brain as big as his, she'd have thought Starflight would be  _ using  _ it instead of making misguided assumptions about his perfectly capable friends. 

The only problem she had with Deathbringer was that she'd simply had enough of him lately. There were  _ no _ other factors involved. All she needed was an actual break from his constant barrage of caring-way-too-much, and everything was bound to be back to normal in no time. 

_ But how am I going to get one?  _

_ Should I give him something else to do? _

_ Like the 'self-preservation' club? _

Glory felt her tail coiling up at the memory of Deathbringer's hinted desires of future dragonets with her. 

Suddenly, the sharp sounds of snapping tree branches, loudly rustling leaves, and a piercing shout tore the queen away from her brooding. She was even more startled when a dragon the color of raspberries narrowly missed crashing right on top of her on the vine walkway she'd been crossing. Glory jumped back, flaring her wings just as her older brother skidded to a rather graceless flop, only a short distance in front of her. 

"AGHK!!" Jambu cried, but almost immediately dissolved into painfully helpless giggles. "Oh, ouch."

"Um, JAMBU!?" Glory voiced her disbelief, bristling.

The pink dragon groaned as he rolled over onto his back, and looked her way with an upside down grin. "Hey, sis! Wow, I didn't think I'd— _ ughhf _ —bump into you here." A tangle of vines and canary yellow flowers held him prisoner as he struggled to get to his feet again. 

"What in Pyrrhia was  _ that?"  _ Glory demanded. Worries abandoned, she hurried to his side to help him up. Once he could, Jambu gently shook himself from horns to tail, scattering leaves and flower petals around them.

"Oh...! No worries!" he cheerfully replied. He shrugged his wings, but couldn't help wincing a bit, and Glory wondered how badly injured he actually was from that fall. He continued in a surprisingly casual tone, "It's a pretty great story, though! One of the dragonets I was teaching earlier today asked me what it would be like to slingshot yourself across the forest. So then later I couldn't stop thinking, hmm! What  _ would  _ it be like to slingshot yourself across the forest?"

Glory rolled her eyes. "Aaaand you were crazy enough to actually do it. Right?"

"Yep!" Jambu said proudly. 

"Great."

"It's  _ really  _ great!" her brother laughed as gleeful swirls of indigo danced with the bright magenta in his scales. "Now I can tell that kid all about it! He'll be stoked!  _ Totally  _ worth it."

The queen blinked, and skeptically, she arched a brow. "Is it a good idea to get a dragonet that excited about something this dangerous? You're not worried that he might try to do it on his own next?"

"Eh, he'll be fine. He's not dumb. And it's not  _ that  _ dangerous!"

"Jambu," Glory argued sternly. "He could get hurt.  _ You  _ could have gotten hurt. It's sort of my job to make sure my dragons  _ don't  _ get hurt."

And that's when a new idea struck her like lightning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a big wow, thanks to all my readers thus far!
> 
> hopefully none of you are homophobic. cus if so, i'll have to ask that you ever so kindly, get off my lawn.


	3. Three

"A lia...whaa?"

"A liability. A potential danger to yourself and our dragons," said Queen Glory.

Jambu blinked and stared at her as if she'd just spoken scavenger. Deathbringer didn't say a word, as he still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, himself.

Glory coming back to the royal pavilion in less than an hour? With her goofy pink brother and a mysterious new assignment? So, the entire _opposite_ of anything he'd been expecting after stupidly, stupidly ruining yet another actually decently promising moment with her. He still wanted to smack himself for his blatant idiocy. But curious confusion kept him distracted, for now.

The prince suddenly snorted out a rather loud burst of laughter.

"A _danger?_ You think I'm — seriously!?" he choked.

"Jambu!" Glory stamped one of her front talons. " _Yes,_ seriously. Did you not just give me a fully detailed list of all the ridiculous stunts you've pulled in the last week alone? Right after nearly squashing me from your attempt at slingshotting yourself across the rainforest? And you wouldn't expect me, as your sister and queen, to be concerned for your safety after all that?"

"uUugghhH, I thought you'd think it was _funny!_ Because it IS!" her brother groaned. His eyes went wide a second before he narrowed them. "Hey wait! You _asked_ me for that list!"

Glory cleared her throat, ignoring him. "Listen. I know hurting yourself or anyone else would never be your intention. But I can't ignore the fact that it's a very real possibility. So for the time being...I'm assigning you a royal attendant."

Silence.

"So like, a fancy babysitter? HA!" Jambu grinned. His tail curled in an impish-looking way as whorls of sunny yellow danced with the shimmering magenta in his scales.

"More like, a personal bodyguard," Glory said. "I can already tell you'll need a _really_ good one, too." She then, much to Deathbringer's surprise, gestured for him to step forward. "So naturally, I give to you... Deathbringer."

"What?" Deathbringer blurted before he even had time to stop himself. Jambu froze, looking just as surprised. He shot a few quick glances in Deathbringer's direction as his sunny scales adopted a more golden hue, and curious sparks of blue snuck along his wings.

Glory blinked. "Is there a problem?"

"I-I —" he continued in an awkwardly frantic stammer. "Your Majesty, I can't just —" He lowered his voice a bit. "Forgive me, for questioning you, but —"

"Deathbringer," Glory purred his name, and that shut him up fast. She suddenly leaned in to take his talons, giving him a soft and encouraging smile. "You're my _best_ guard. Jambu is my brother. I hoped I could count on you for something like this."

 _Something like what!?_ was what Deathbringer ached to ask her. He caught the other RainWing looking a bit like he might suffocate from trying not to laugh again, and couldn't help but think that something was very strange about this request. Jambu certainly seemed to find it hilarious, if that was any indication.

"But — How am I going to protect _you_ if I'm on this assignment? Surely there are other guards that can handle a simple attending mission." He tried again.

"None that I trust as much as you," she insisted immediately. "Also — _don't_ underestimate my brother."

Deathbringer looked at Jambu again, who was still grinning like an idiot. Despite his shocked whining only moments ago, he really didn't seem as opposed to their inevitable situation as Deathbringer felt. The NightWing wrinkled his snout suspiciously (even if he really couldn't wrap his mind around this silly pink dragon being a threat of any degree, to anyone).

He then turned to his mate with one last desperate look.

_Why does it have to be me?_

_What aren't you telling me?_

_...Why do you keep pushing me further and further away?_

_Oh, Glory._

Deathbringer took a big breath in, and exhaled defeat.

"Alright, then." He managed not to stammer. "If it's that important to you, of course I'll do it."

He saw an unexpected flash in Glory's green eyes.

_Guilt? Hesitance?_

But the queen quickly stamped down on it. Whatever it was. She tilted her chin up with a smile.

"I knew you wouldn't let me down," she said. She held onto his talons for another few seconds before she dropped back to all-fours. "Now; I just want you to know that there isn't a strict schedule to follow or anything. Take breaks when you need to. If my brother does anything _too_ crazy, I'm sure you'll have no problems finding me." Her tail curled thoughtfully as she paused. "Also, I'm gonna need you to oversee his tree gliding class."

"Noted. But please. Your Majesty — Glory." Deathbringer made sure to meet her eyes for his next words. "Please promise me you'll keep yourself well-guarded. I may lose my mind worrying for you at this rate."

To his surprise, she actually softened a bit. "Don't do that," she gently scolded him. "You know I always have the top secret invisible guard on my tail. And this isn't some tragic goodbye. You're just doing something extra for me. Okay?"

He swallowed, and nodded. He didn't feel okay.

"Jambu." Glory turned to her brother. The pink dragon perked up to listen to her, eyes wide. "Are you teaching anymore today?"

"Today?" Jambu chuckled through a big yawn. "Today's pretty much over for me. My class is early. Want I should stop by tomorrow morning? I can walk you there."

It took Deathbringer a second to realize he was being spoken to, and that both Glory and Jambu were waiting expectantly for an answer.

He blinked himself back into focus. "Oh — yes. Thank you. That would be helpful, if you don't mind."

Cheerfully, Jambu shrugged. "Sure!"

"So," Glory said to him. "You don't have anything else to do this evening?"

"Uuuhh...nope."

"Hmmm." The queen looked away, wrinkling her forehead as if she were putting imaginary puzzle pieces together.

Jambu glanced between his company. Then he snorted. Ripples of bright yellow pulsed up his playfully curled tail as his face grew into another grin.

"I mean...you could watch me eat," he offered. He waited for Deathbringer to meet his eyes, and then widened them. "Eating can be a _very_ dangerous task. I could swallow a seed!"

Deathbringer wondered if he'd imagined the hint of sarcasm in Jambu's words. If Glory had noticed as well, she didn't seem to mind.

"Perfect. How about the two of you go have dinner together, and then you can meet me back at the treehouse?" she gestured to Deathbringer with a wing. "I'll probably be getting ready for bed by that time. And then tomorrow, you can attend the tree gliding class."

It wasn't a suggestion. But luckily for the queen, Deathbringer had already accepted his fate. If she really wanted him gone, that bad. Bad enough to lie to him. Bad enough to present him with poorly fabricated bogus assignments. Bad enough to use her own brother as a tool to keep widening the space between them. Well then. He would leave her be for a while.

 _Or die trying,_ his thoughts whispered.

* * *

Deathbringer had hoped to find some distraction in his task for the evening, even if everything about it seemed excruciatingly pointless. He knew Jambu, well enough. He certainly didn't _need_ any quality "warm-up" time with his mate's over-excitable, perpetually jubilant sibling. Neither did he understand what it was meant to accomplish.

 _Ah. Right._ Nothing.

And yet, here he was, actually watching his new companion...eat.

The NightWing couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, though. After all, none of this had been his idea either (minus the eating part). And, it seemed that Jambu was also, not surprisingly, completely and blissfully unaware of his sister's ulterior motives.

 _Lucky you,_ Deathbringer thought ruefully.

Jambu grinned at him, displaying the little blue seeds that now coated his teeth.

"Star fruit?" he offered, in a voice that perfectly matched his merry expression. Deathbringer looked down at his extended talon to see it gently clasped around a translucent limey-yellow piece of fruit, star-shaped, with blue seeds. He blinked at it.

"Er, no, thank you." He shook his head.

Jambu blinked at him, and then shrugged, untroubled. "Suit yourself." He ate the extra fruit himself, and said through his mouthful, "More for me!"

Deathbringer forced a small smile. Awkwardly, he shuffled around a bit, repositioning his wings and tail. He wondered, how long did it take a RainWing to eat? Would Glory be annoyed if he left as soon as Jambu finished? He supposed he could go hunt for his own dinner as well, but...he didn't really have much of an appetite.

He knew what he _wanted_ to do.

He wanted to be with his queen. It was all he ever wanted.

 _But I can't be,_ he reminded himself. _I_ must _give her time_.

Jambu, almost as if he'd read his mind, suddenly barked a laugh.

"My sister though, am I right?" he said. Playfully, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "She worries about me _waaaay_ too much." He stuffed a few more fruits in his mouth, and spoke through them. "Like, I'M the older brother, y'know? And I've lived in this rainforest my whole life." As a lighter shade of pink began to swirl in his scales, he spat out a few seeds, swallowed, and sighed. "But it's pretty adorable. So I've learned to just...let it happen."

Deathbringer stared at him, without a response.

_If only you knew, little pink dragon._

Jambu burped, then continued, "Anyway! You can...go...if you want. I'm done eating. But I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Oh." Deathbringer blinked, relief and surprise settling over him; that was faster than he'd anticipated. "Yes. Tomorrow." He paused, and tried to give the prince one last smile for the evening. "I look forward to it." He lied.

"Same!" Jambu giggled, clearly delighted to hear that lie. "It's gonna be loads of fun! Even if 'fun' is totally not my sister's plan at all. But whatever! No worries. We can do it our own way." He laughed again. "G'night, Deathbringer!"

"Goodnight," Deathbringer called, as he watched the slender RainWing take to the trees. In no time, the darkening forest had swallowed him up.

The sounds of chirping crickets and warbling frogs followed Deathbringer on his way home, growing louder as night fell upon him. He tried to take the journey slow, but found himself at a faster pace whenever his focus wandered.

Fearlessly he prowled through the dark, just as he'd been taught long ago: he kept his wings outstretched to feel his way along, and followed his nose instead of his eyes. Tonight offered only two softly waning crescent moons. Deathbringer paused to look up at their slivered shapes through the canopy, and wished his mother well.

He reached Glory's treehouse unscathed.

But the queen was already sound asleep with Silver nestled in her arms. Her slowly pulsing blue scales reflected the warm glow of firefly light. Deathbringer sighed silently, and watched her breathe for a moment. He couldn't decide if he was imagining it or not that she looked a bit more peaceful than usual.

When he was satisfied, he crept across the room and reached up to free the fireflies from their jar. In a flash of confusion, they began to drift away.

"Thanks again," he whispered, feeling silly for talking to insects.

He made sure they escaped safely into the rainforest before settling down next to Glory and Silver for the night.

As he fell asleep, Deathbringer hoped his dreams would take him somewhere warmer.

* * *

The next morning, Glory woke him for the royal pavilion shortly after dawn.

And apparently, Prince Jambu had already beaten them there.

"HEY DEATHBRINGER! QUICK, SAVE ME I'M GONNA DIE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Before either dragon had a chance to look out for him, Jambu landed the end of a big graceful flip through the air right between them on the large platform. Glory jumped back, flaring her wings as bright streaks of orange flashed along them. Her ever-pink brother immediately doubled over in a fit of giggles.

"What is your _problem!?"_ Glory growled at him. She settled her startled scales, along with the few quick pulses of green that came and went.

Jambu choked through his laughter, "I-I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I couldn't resist!"

_Is he...mocking her?_

From what Deathbringer knew about Queen Glory's brother (which, albeit wasn't much), he...didn't _not_ seem like the type of dragon to tease royalty. Of course, this royalty _was_ his little sister. Who was technically putting him on probation, for seemingly no good reason.

Or perhaps, Jambu was just a playful idiot.

Either way, Glory clearly didn't appreciate it.

"And what if I'd had Silver with me?" she said. "You would've frightened her to death."

Jambu snorted as if he was pretty sure that wasn't a likely outcome. Still, the queen's words seemed to serve their purpose, and the raspberry dragon quickly composed himself.

"I wouldn't have done it, then." He shrugged.

Glory rolled her eyes.

"Alright," she said. "Whatever, it's fine." She slipped back a bit and looked between brother and bodyguard. Deathbringer followed her gaze, glancing quickly at Jambu, then back to the leaves below him. He stayed quiet. Then Glory said, "Well, I'll be here if you need me."

Her tone was final and polite as she excused them for the morning.

Deathbringer bowed to his queen, and rose to find Jambu grinning at him from ear to ear.

The next few moments brought them leaping and gliding through the forest as the exuberant RainWing led the way to his class area. Deathbringer made a conscious attempt to put his woes away for now. He instead watched the passing trees that were slowly coming to life with rainbow dragons rising from slumber.

Jambu, of course, talked the whole way.

"You're gonna _love_ my students!" he said in a chipper voice as he pranced and swung himself along. "They're wild."

" _Wild?"_ Deathbringer repeated from behind him.

The pink dragon hooted a laugh. "You know!" he said. "Hilarious! As in, wow I love teaching kids so much!?"

"Ah. I see," said the NightWing. He wasn't entirely sure how accurate that definition was, but he wasn't about to try his luck correcting a RainWing's speech habits either.

A few more sweeps between branches and trite conversations later, Jambu suddenly dipped down and circled an invisible air path to a clearing on the forest floor. Deathbringer followed him, hoping his own motions looked just as adept. As he studied the svelte dragon's soundless landing, he almost couldn't believe this was the same Jambu that apparently also practiced risking his life for a laugh on the regular.

"Hmmmm," Jambu said softly, scanning the area. His tail arched into a curious swirl of bright blue. "Y'all here yet? We've got company!"

That was when something small thudded down with a quiet _thump_ behind them. Deathbringer turned around to see a tiny RainWing dragonet staring up at him with large, inquisitive eyes. He was nearly startled when a second one materialized right next to the first.

One of them immediately took to copying Deathbringer's midnight palette.

"Whoa, cool! I've never been this close to a _real_ NightWing before!" he awed.

"Um, you're close to Sundown _all_ the time, Olingo." A voice from above pointed out, and Deathbringer looked up to see a third dragonet settled on a low tree branch. She yawned placidly as filtered sunbeams danced on her pastel-pink scales.

And before he knew it, there were four dragonets of shifting colors around him; two males and two females, each no older than a year or so, by the looks of it.

Olingo snorted, letting a deep azure roll over the darker hues. "Sundown is hardly a real NightWing. He eats _fruit,_ for moon's sake."

"Hey!" the dragonet next to him piped up defensively. "Leave him alone." She lashed her purple tail as she glanced at a shadowy edge of their clearing.

"Yeah, Olingo," the fourth dragonet agreed from Deathbringer's other side. Casually, he sauntered over to sit next to them, displaying a warm coppery brown. "Stop being mean."

The blue dragonet's jaw dropped open for a second and he eyed them both with a wounded look. "I'm not being — I'm just saying —" He huffed an exasperated sigh. "He _knows_ I'm just — UGH! Fine!" Sheepishly, Olingo turned to the same shaded patch of vegetation that his friend had glanced at earlier. "Sorry, Sundown. I didn't mean it."

Deathbringer followed Olingo's gaze. He blinked curiously as a very tiny NightWing dragonet, clearly a few months younger than the others, stepped out of the shadows. Sundown couldn't help but stare right back at Deathbringer. After a moment, he shyly tucked his chin down, and looked to his friends with a small smile.

"It's okay," he murmured.

The purple dragonet that had first scolded Olingo smiled back, and gestured with her wing for Sundown to come in closer. Sundown hesitated, only briefly, before darting across the short space that separated them and nestling in beside her.

Jambu then cleared his throat.

The pastel dragonet yawned from her tree branch. "Awh, poor Jambu feels ignored."

She giggled when her teacher snorted and shot her a funny look.

"I'm just teasing you," she said, finally stretching her way to her feet. Nimbly, she hopped off her perch, and opened her wings to glide gracefully down.

Thus brought all five dragonets together on the ground, staring expectantly up at their elders. _At Jambu,_ Deathbringer realized. They respected him. Naturally, they were interested in meeting a new dragon as well; but they didn't let that excitement get the better of them, at least not in their teacher's presence. _Well._ Deathbringer stole a quick glance at Olingo.

Jambu took the opportunity to clear his throat again, even louder.

Then he grinned.

"So this is Deathbringer." The pink prince gestured breezily with one claw.

Olingo nearly took to the air. "WHOA, WHAT!? Your name is _DEATHBRINGER!?"_

Beside him, the pastel dragonet shook her head, and the coppery one had to duck away from a quick bout of enthusiastic wing flapping.

"Deathbringer," Jambu repeated. "Great, huh?" He stifled a snort. "NightWings." And winked at his new attendant before explaining further. "He's gonna be supervising our class for...a time. Queen's orders. So be nice to him. No jumping on him or sniffing him in weird places or asking nosy questions."

"Aw man!" Olingo whined loudly.

"Ah _EM_ ," said Jambu again.

The blue dragonet slumped back and shut his mouth.

"Thank you." Jambu turned so that he was facing everyone as best he could, and held out one of his talons toward the five dragonets. "Anyway. Deathbringer — I'd like you to meet —" One by one, he pointed out each of his students, starting with the coppery brown one. "Kiwi —" He gestured next to the purple dragonet that still had Sundown under her wing. "Dartfrog —" Then the pastel dragonet, who sat with her long tail curled regally over her talons. "Delight —" Then Olingo, who was clearly trying not to fidget. "Olingo." He paused. "And the little NightWing is Sundown. He's technically _not_ a student, buuuut..."

"He's with us!" Dartfrog finished the thought with a proud grin. Kiwi nodded earnestly, and Delight giggled her agreement. Sundown hid his own tiny smile.

"Do you talk or what?" Olingo suddenly blurted. For a brief second, Deathbringer thought he was speaking to Sundown; it wasn't until he looked that he saw the blue dragonet staring straight at him with enormous amber eyes.

Deathbringer blinked, only slightly taken aback.

"Indeed I do," he said. "Pleasure to meet you all."

"OhmygoshheeventalkslikeaNightWing!" Olingo leaned into Kiwi, smushing against him as he whispered loudly. The coppery dragonet made a face and pushed him back. Jambu stifled a laugh.

Dartfrog ignored them. She beamed at Deathbringer with a twinkle in her eye that reminded him of the childhood he'd never had. "It's nice to meet you too, Deathbringer!" Beside her, Delight gave an elegantly-sleepy nod, and Sundown peeked out from between them.

Deathbringer smiled and tipped his wings. So far, they did seem like pretty good kids, even if he barely knew them.

"Alright nerds, it's time for class," Jambu suddenly announced. He started to move, but stopped nearly immediately to slap a talon to his head. "OH! Sundown! I almost forgot!" Brightly, he grinned. "Remember how you asked me about slingshotting dragons across the rainforest?"

Delight dipped her head to nudge the tiny NightWing forward. Sundown fluttered his wings nervously, blushing. "Uhm," he squeaked. "Yeah?"

His green eyes grew wide as full moons as Jambu spread his left wing. Deathbringer looked as well. There was a visible bruise and faint scar on his raspberry wing tip. But by the goofy satisfaction that was plastered all over Jambu's face, Deathbringer supposed it couldn't hurt too bad.

Sundown clasped his talons over his snout with a gasp.

"You did it?" he asked, his voice soft and smitten.

"I sure did!" Jambu beamed. He glanced at the injury, and then said, " _Not_ sure if I'd do it again, though."

The black dragonet looked up at his teacher worriedly. "Does it hurt?"

"Ehhhh. It hurt more yesterday, when I first got it. I put some aloe on it last night before I went to bed, and now I barely feel anything! Good stuff."

"Oh." Relief flooded Sundown's face, and he smiled. "That's good." He paused, cast a quick glance at Deathbringer, and then shuffled shyly on his talons. "So um. What was it like?"

The prince folded his wing back in, still grinning as he answered the question. "It was _awesome!_ Buuuuut I almost died, and killed my sister, in the same day. Definitely would NOT recommend." Sundown looked horrified. Jambu blinked. Then quickly, gesturing to Deathbringer, he added, "But y'know! That's why I have my very own royally appointed bodyguard now! So no more almost-deaths for me."

"Bodyguard?" Dartfrog mused.

"QUEEN'S ORDERS," Jambu said again. "Now let's glide!"

In seconds, all five RainWings had spiraled up into the trees, leaving only Sundown and Deathbringer on the forest floor below. Sundown radiated a peculiar admiration as he gazed up at them with wide, twinkling eyes.

Jambu called down, "You can join us if you want! But it might be kinda hard to keep up."

Deathbringer saw him glance back at his bright pink tail and immediately realized what he meant. _Ah, yes. Of course._ A shorter, sinewy NightWing tail wouldn't be of any use to him today; the RainWings had tails specifically evolved for travelling through the high canopy. So even if Deathbringer could master the mechanics of tree gliding — of which he had no doubts about — he'd still inevitably fall behind due to a simple lack of that biological advantage.

"I'll just watch," he said with a nod.

"Mmkay!" Jambu breezily replied.

And then they were off, swinging and diving around like graceful overgrown monkeys.

Sundown suddenly gasped and bounded after them from the ground, which gave Deathbringer only a slight start. The little dragonet giggled and fluttered his blue-black wings, but never took his chase to the air, only dancing around underneath his friends. _Either he can't fly yet, or he knows he'd never be able to catch them anyway,_ Deathbringer guessed.

The assassin brought his attention back up to Jambu's class. He could hear Jambu shouting instructions and praise in his cheerfully piping voice, but the teacher almost never interfered with anything his students were doing. They were free to practice in whatever ways they chose, it seemed. Within reason, presumably.

_Fascinating. Very RainWing._

But one thing Deathbringer had certainly learned since living alongside them was that sometimes, the RainWing way of doing things could be surprisingly clever and efficient.

Olingo was clearly the most limber of the dragonets; his long, lanky body made it easier for his wings to propel him along, so fast that he nearly melted into a bright blue blur at times. Delight dipped herself around the emerald treetops like a dainty flying fish as her scales drifted between creamy shades of rose and ivory.

Occasionally, Dartfrog or Kiwi would sweep low to the ground, giggling along with Sundown. The little NightWing ducked and pranced with glee as their colorful wings brushed past him.

The spontaneous routine went on for a while. Deathbringer had lost track of how long the RainWings played in the air by the time Jambu brought them all back down.

Sundown came barreling into Dartfrog in no time; she laughed and hugged him in her purple wings. Prince Jambu beamed proudly at his students, curling his tail as whorls of indigo joined the bright fuchsia on his scales.

"Totally AWESOME, guys, as always!" he said.

"Thanks!" said Dartfrog, grinning back at him. Kiwi nodded, also looking pleased.

Olingo puffed his chest. Delight glanced at him with a funny smile, then poked him in the side. He jumped, and for a second he lost his balance, but quickly caught himself. When he wrinkled his snout at her, Delight blinked away innocently.

"Always, always!" Sundown agreed. He lowered his voice, and bashfully added, "I hope I can glide with you guys someday."

"You will," Kiwi promised him, smiling.

Jambu yawned loudly as he rolled his pink shoulders and flexed his wings a couple times. Then he shook himself from horns to tail. "Alright, well I'll see y'all tomorrow. Class dismissed!"

"WOOOOO!" Olingo leapt into the air and used his wings to flip through a full circle. Deathbringer couldn't tell if he was showing off or just being himself...or both. The dragonet landed with a grin. "Bye, _Deathbringer!"_ He pranced away, loudly muttering to himself, "I can't _believe_ that's his name! So cool."

Delight tilted her head up to the sky. "Hmmmmm," she hummed slowly. "You know, I think, I might start my sun time early today."

"Don't you do that every day?" asked Dartfrog.

"Well." The pastel dragonet blinked thoughtfully, and then smiled. "Yeah."

With a soft giggle, she slipped off after Olingo, leaving only Dartfrog, Kiwi, and Sundown behind with their teacher and his attendant.

Kiwi glanced at the sky too, then said, "And we'd better get Sundown back home soon."

"Oh, right!" Dartfrog hopped to her feet as fruity speckles of orange started marching up her scales. Beside her, Sundown tried — and failed — to hide his crestfallen expression. She turned to him with a gentle nudge. "C'mon, silly. You know your mother's rules."

The black dragonet sighed his surrender. "Yeah."

"Bye, Jambu! Bye, Deathbringer — see you tomorrow!" Dartfrog flicked her tail at them cheerfully. Kiwi and Sundown scampered along with her back into the rainforest.

"Bye, kids!" Jambu called after them. “Be safe, have fun!”

Deathbringer nodded, thankful that they'd given him a bit of a break from all his brooding. He couldn't help but feel a little curious as to what the rest of his time with them would reveal. He also couldn’t ignore how much their teacher clearly did _not_ need an assistant.

And then he was alone with Jambu again.

After a second of silence, the RainWing let out a happy sigh.

"Well, that was fun." He turned around to flash a big, toothy grin. "C'mon!" And before his attendant could blink, Jambu was twirling back up into the shimmering treetops.

Deathbringer spread his wings and hurried after him.

"Where are we going?" he asked as they leapt from branch to branch, tree to tree, toward a destination only one of them knew.  

The prince laughed, and spun through the breadth of his next jump.

"To find Liana, of course!" he told him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i take full credit for the junior dream team. ;) hopefully y'all enjoyed meeting them as much as i enjoyed introducing them.
> 
> p.s. — if anyone wants to follow my tumblr — quasimagical.tumblr.com.


	4. Four

Jambu was vibrating. 

He had also never been more grateful to be his favorite color in his whole life.

And as he stood in front of his very best friend in the whole world ever, proudly presenting none other than Deathbringer of the NightWings, he was pretty sure he wouldn't have to inform her of either of those things. 

Liana stared at the two dragons in front of her, eyes wide with surprise. Her gaze darted between them a few times before she settled on giving Jambu a rather significant look, which made him thank the moons that she knew better than to say what he knew was on  _ both  _ of their minds now.

"Er. Hey," she began instead, casually. "Who's your friend?"

Jambu thought his face might fall off if he didn't get a chance to stop grinning soon. 

"Liana — this is Deathbringer." He turned his grin to Deathbringer again, and held a talon out to Liana. "Deathbringer — this is Liana. My very best friend in the whole world ever."

Liana smiled. "Nice to meet you, Deathbringer."

"And you." Deathbringer tipped his head to her. 

"He's my  _ 'royal attendant'  _ now," Jambu smoothly continued. He slipped closer to Liana, nosing her with his snout and twining his tail around hers. "Because apparently I'm a giant disaster waiting to happen."

"Wait — Queen Glory said that to you!?" Liana asked him.

Jambu stifled a snort. "Well, okay. Not in those  _ exact _ words. But yeah. Pretty hilarious, right?"

The other RainWing laughed through a big yawn. A few swirls of golden yellow danced over her dark blue scales, sparkling in the warm sunshine. Jambu had taken Deathbringer up to the treetop hut that he and Liana often shared, and now the three dragons sat together on the wide leaf platform outside. Around them, a few late risers snoozed peacefully in their hammocks, displaying dreamy colors as birds serenaded them with happy morning songs.

Liana leaned into Jambu's cuddle. "So what did you do this time?" She flashed him an all-too-knowing look.

"Ex _cuse_ __ me!?" Jambu feigned offence, bringing a talon to his chest. 

He grinned as Liana burst into another laugh. She nudged him firmly with her wing, and Jambu glanced up to see Deathbringer watching them with a curious expression. Quickly, the NightWing averted his eyes. Jambu felt a squishy burst of bubbles in his chest as he watched another second of his attendant's adorably awkward fidgeting. 

He shook himself a bit before turning his attention back to Liana.

"Okay, okay," he sighed. "I maaaay or may not have accidentally almost squashed our queen and seriously injured myself yesterday. But neither of those things actually happened, sooooo..."

Liana was already shaking her head. 

"You are such a mess," she said through a giggle. 

Jambu giggled along with her. "Well, at least I'm a lucky mess."

"A  _ very _ lucky mess," Liana corrected him. She tilted her head down to bump her forehead against his, and the two RainWings shared another cuddle, both of them grinning with endearment. 

Deathbringer finally cleared his throat. Jambu and Liana paused to look up at him.

"Shall I...give you and your partner a bit of privacy?" he asked, only a little cautiously.

Jambu blinked. He slowly turned to look at Liana again, and she was already looking back, holding her breath. Then both of them suddenly burst into gales of laughter. Liana laughed so hard she fell to her belly and flapped her wings a few times. When she managed to catch her breath again, she staggered back up to her haunches.

"Oh,  _ please _ ," she breathed. "Jambu is so gay, he'd be as straight as  _ me _ if he were a female!"

Jambu grinned, and nodded. "This is true."

Deathbringer only stared at them for a moment, unblinking. 

"Ah. Right." He coughed slightly, and ducked his head down in an embarrassed way. "My apologies. I-I didn't mean to —"

"Oh no, no! Don't worry about it! It's completely totally fine," Jambu hurriedly assured him. 

"Yeah, it really is, I'm sorry we laughed at you," Liana joined in. "It's just —" she smothered one more giggle. "— we kind of get that a lot. And it's kind of hilarious."

The NightWing peeked back up at them, then glanced around at the other dragons in nearby trees, almost as if he didn't expect them to be so unfazed by the things that had just been so freely and loudly announced. 

"But hey, we actually are about to chill for a bit. Like, preferably alone. No offence or anything!" Jambu continued. "It's just our 'us' time, y'know?"

Slowly, Deathbringer nodded, straightening himself back up. "Of course. I'll leave you to it, then."

"Sweet, thanks! I'll catch up later. If I need ya, I'll just yell across the rainforest or something." Jambu ended his words with a humored tail-flick, and let a few sunny starbursts of yellow show in his scales. 

His attendant dipped his head down politely, then turned to spread his starry wings and leap off their platform. As soon as his black tail disappeared over the leafy edge, Jambu was grabbed and dragged into Liana's treehouse. 

Liana fumbled with the vine curtain in the doorway until it settled well enough to hide them inside, and then immediately swirled around to face Jambu, looking thoroughly astounded. Jambu felt his whole body quivering with excitement as he beamed back at her.

"Are, you,  _ KIDDING ME!? _ " she hissed.

"I KNOW, RIGHT!?" he squealed his response. "Can you BELIEVE it, because I totally can't!"

The dark blue RainWing paced around a bit before she brought her talons to her face and took a big breath in, exhaling as she slid them down again. "Okay. I need a FULL report." She paused. "Now tell me HOW, exactly, you scored your  _ sister's bodyguard!?" _

"I  _ told  _ you!" he cried. "I was just being my usual stupid self! And Glory just... _ gave _ him to me! Out of nowhere!"

"So what  _ did _ she say, then?" Liana demanded.

"She just said something about me being a 'danger' to myself and others." Jambu rubbed the back of his neck as he thought over his sister's words from the day before. "Then she assigned Deathbringer to me." He shrugged his wings.

"Of  _ ALL  _ dragons!" Liana huffed her frustration. She plopped down on her haunches with a loud, dramatic snort. "This is so unfair! I wish she'd give  _ me  _ my own super hot NightWing guard." 

Despite her obvious jealousy, Liana kept a playful tone in her voice. Jambu stepped in closer and reached out to wrap a wing around her, knowing she wouldn't dream of actually letting anything like this come between them. After all, even he hadn't expected to be granted the very dragon both of them had been mooning over together since the first time they'd laid eyes on him. Deathbringer had been one of their biggest mutual crushes for quite some time now. 

Jambu assured her, "You'll get your own someday... But  _ I'm  _ not sharing this time." He grinned. 

"Ahck!" Liana stifled a laugh as she gently shoved his wing away. "You are such a little... Hey!" Suddenly, she blinked her eyes wide, then gave Jambu a funny look. "Aren't you going to have to share anyway? Deathbringer and your sister — they're like, a thing, right?"

"Ummm, I think so?" Jambu said. His raspberry tail twitched curiously as he thought about that. He didn't know much about Glory's relationship with her bodyguard, but he seemed to recall them definitely being more than just friends. Which wasn't surprising at all, in his opinion — who  _ wouldn't  _ want to be more than friends with Deathbringer?

"Well, whatever. No big deal." His best friend waved a talon airily. She tilted her gaze up a bit before she giggled. "But it might be kind of awkward sharing with the queen. Has anyone ever done that?"

Jambu shrugged. "I have no idea."

"She  _ is  _ your sister, though," Liana continued matter-of-factly. "So maybe she won't mind at all."

"Maybe. But...would  _ he  _ mind? What if NightWings don't share?" he mused aloud.

The other RainWing blinked at him. "Why wouldn't they?"

"I dunno," Jambu mumbled, feeling his cheeks warming up. He averted his eyes for a moment, and shuffled on his talons a bit. He wasn't sure why that rather strange possibility had suddenly popped into his head. His heart, and his thoughts, were racing now that doing  _ anything  _ with Deathbringer was actually plausible. Especially with the way Liana was talking.  _ But if he wouldn't be up for it...I wouldn't want to impose...as much as I'd really,  _ really  _ like to get to know him better...  _

"You're making that face you get when you worry too much," Liana pointed out, bringing his focus back to their conversation. Gently, she said, "And it's in your scales, too."

Jambu glanced down to see the pale blues and greens that were creeping up his talons. He hadn't even noticed. 

Liana shook her head, and made a sympathetic clicking noise with her tongue. "Oh, babe. I'm sure  _ any  _ NightWing would share with you. You're totally adorable! You just have to make yourself known. Besides...if Deathbringer  _ doesn't  _ want to, then he'll just say no. And you'll be sad for a bit. But, mystery solved, either way."

Hopefully, Jambu looked back up at her. He blinked once, thoughtfully.

"Hmmm. I guess you're right. Yeah." He smiled as a much more natural-feeling magenta started pushing his troubled hues down again. "So...what should I do? Just ask him out?"

"Definitely!" Liana said. "You know  _ I _ would." She gave a small snort of amusement, and then sighed, holding a talon out to him. "BUT, it looks like he's yours now — if he says yes — so I say go for it."

Jambu finally let his face grow into another signature grin. 

* * *

The next day, Jambu could barely concentrate on his tree gliding class at all. He kept getting distracted by the perfectly gorgeous shine of Deathbringer's ebony black scales. And the tantalizing way his muscles rippled in the sunlight. And whenever the NightWing looked his way with those mysterious dark blue eyes, Jambu felt he might just as soon melt into a sticky-sweet puddle of tree sap.

He'd been silently rehearsing, all yesterday afternoon and this morning, for what exactly he planned to say whenever he found the opportunity to ask Deathbringer out. 

He still had no idea. 

So it was kind of a relief when Deathbringer stepped forward first, for an unexpected word with Sundown and Dartfrog.

"Before you go," he asked them with a soft smile. "Would either of you be interested in participating in a brief royal survey?"

Both dragonets' eyes grew wide at the question, and a wave of blue and yellow swept over Dartfrog's scales. They quickly scuttled in closer for more information, tails swaying with curiosity. 

"What's a survey?" Dartfrog asked. 

Deathbringer chuckled. "I'm just going to ask you a question or two, because honestly I'm hoping to report some encouraging news to the queen." He cleared his throat, and dipped his head to Sundown. "Your mother — I assume she knows you attend this class every morning?"

The little NightWing blinked before letting a bright smile spread across his face; Dartfrog lit up right alongside him. 

"Yeah!" Sundown readily explained. "She knows. She lets me go lots. But not every morning."

Dartfrog giggled. "He wishes he could go every morning. Sundown's parents are really very nice, though. Sometimes they invite me and Kiwi to stay for lunch, and that's always fun. As long as there's fruit. Which there is, because Sundown loves it."

"Fascinating," Deathbringer said. "So, your family likes the RainWings, then?"

That was when Sundown faltered ever so slightly. "Ummm." His cheeks grew a bit lighter as he brushed at the ground with his feet. "I dunno if they like  _ all  _ of them...but Mother likes my friends a lot. Especially Dartfrog." The little RainWing puffed her chest proudly. "And as long as they're with me, she doesn't mind who else plays with us."

"Ah, I see. I'm glad to hear that." Deathbringer nodded, sounding sincere. 

"Anything else you wanna know?" asked Dartfrog, tilting her head.

"That will be all, actually," he told her. He bowed to them both. "Thank you. And do enjoy the rest of your day."

The two dragonets then gave their goodbyes, and off they went. 

Once they were gone, Deathbringer turned back to Jambu with just about the happiest look he thought he'd seen on him since Glory had put them together. His dark eyes sparkled with hope, and in that moment, Jambu wouldn't have minded getting lost in them forever. He thanked the moons, again, that he was already hot pink from horns to tail. 

"It's so nice to see real examples of our tribes living in harmony." Deathbringer sighed with relief. "Perhaps everything will be alright, if we're patient enough. Glory will be very pleased."

Jambu could only stare back at him.

"Y-Yeah! Definitely," he finally said. 

A slight awkwardness hung in the air after that. Orrrr maybe it was just on Jambu's end of the conversation. He  _ was  _ kind of dying, after all. It turned out, it was a lot easier to feign nonchalance when he wasn't trying to ask a gorgeous dragon out on a date.

His attendant seemed much more relaxed as he sat down, still smiling. "Alright, then. What's next on our agenda?" he asked.

Jambu blinked.

_ WhatdoIsaywhatdoIsaywhatdoIsay? _

_ Should I just ask later? _

_ No... No I can ask now — Liana would ask now. _

For a brief, silly moment, he imagined his best friend cheering him on up in the treetops. And that served to push him forward a bit.

_ It's fine. I can do this. _

_ Think, think, think, Jambu, THINK. _

Deathbringer shifted his wings, and the silver star-scales underneath caught the sunlight like beautiful drops of morning dew. Jambu couldn't help but wonder what it might be like to be wrapped up in them for a while.  _ And I'll  _ never  _ know...if I don't...say soMETHING. _

"Actually!" he finally coughed out. "I-I was kinda wondering if — I've been thinking maybe we could, uh —" Deathbringer watched him expectantly. Jambu swallowed. "I-If you're up for it, I mean — maybe we could, go fruit-picking together? Sometime?"

_ Aaaaah! I did it...  _ But despite the tidal wave of relief that immediately splashed over his entire soul, the pink dragon could barely breathe as he awaited Deathbringer's response.

His crush blinked once, furrowing his brow a bit. Then he said, "Fruit-picking?"

Jambu was at a loss for anymore words at the moment; he opened his mouth, but only closed it again, and nodded. 

Then Deathbringer, to his utmost surprise, offered a casual wing-shrug.

"I don't see why not," he said, sincerely. "Sure. I'll pick some fruit with you. I probably won't be eating any, though. Nothing personal."

"R-REALLY!? YOU — YOU WILL!?" Jambu blurted. His wings flared so suddenly he couldn't do a thing to stop them, or the streaks of banana yellow that raced up his spine and exploded onto his ruff. The color quickly spanned outward as well, reaching both wingtips in no time.

Deathbringer blinked again, and Jambu couldn't tell whether he seemed more amused or slightly taken aback. "Of course." He paused. "When would you like to do it?"

The RainWing took a deep, cleansing breath, letting his bright yellow surprise melt away until it disappeared back into magenta. Gently, he folded his wings back in. 

"Uhm," he stammered. "How about tomorrow? After my sun time? Or — anytime works, really. Whenever you want!"

"Tomorrow is fine by me," said Deathbringer. 

Jambu beamed, his tail curling with delight. 

"Alright! Sounds great!" he said. He went silent for a short moment, gazing into Deathbringer's eyes. "Well. I guess I'm gonna head on to Liana's place for now. She'll be expecting me. But uh, I'll see ya later?"

The NightWing suddenly lifted himself a bit. "Ah, yes. Go right ahead." Curiously, he tilted his head. "Will she be expecting you every morning?"

"Heh. Yeah." Jambu grinned. "She oversleeps a  _ lot,  _ so I usually stop by and make sure she's awake for her assignment. Which she recently got moved to the afternoon, anyway." He snorted a laugh. "But she would prefer to be awake early. She just has a hard time getting there by herself."

"I see. Well, good luck with that," Deathbringer offered.

"Thanks!" said Jambu. 

He flicked his tail happily before spreading his wings and spiraling up into the trees. He could hardly wait to tell Liana all about his success.

* * *

Liana was asleep, and snoring softly, when Jambu poked his snout through the vines that hung in her treehouse doorway.  _ No surprises there,  _ he giggled to himself.

He slipped in quietly, and tiptoed his way to the middle of the leafy floor where she was resting. Then lowered himself down to her ear level, and took a breath in.

_ "PSSSSSSSSSSST!"  _

Liana grumbled incoherently, still asleep.

Jambu made a funny face at her that he knew she wouldn't see.

Then he tried again. "Liaaanaaaaaaaa."

She suddenly snored loudly, and rolled over onto her belly, letting her wings flop out to either side. Still asleep.

"Bhhhuh?" she said. Jambu snorted.

"I have some good news," he whispered. "But you won't remember anything I say if you're asleep. Silly sleepy dragon!" He bopped her lightly with one of his wings.

"Mmmmm." She smiled.

He sat down on his haunches, blinking at her. 

"I hope you're dreaming about your future super hot NightWing guard," he continued. "Which won't be Deathbringer, by the way. Because he's going out with me tomorrow."

Jambu crouched down, and blew a short breath of air in her face. 

Liana snorted, and wrinkled her snout. Then her eyes fluttered open to meet his. 

"There you are." He grinned. She smiled back, and he leaned in to nose her with his snout. 

"Hey," Liana breathed through a big yawn. Slowly, she stretched her whole body from where she was on the floor; then with a sleepy groan, she pushed herself up to sit with him, rubbing her eyes. "What'd I miss?"

"Not much. I was just telling you that I have a date tomorrow." He paused. "With Deathbringer."

The sleepy RainWing froze in the middle of rubbing her eyes. Slowly, she turned to look at Jambu. She blinked once. And then she exploded. 

"AAAAAHHHH! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Grinning from ear to ear and suddenly wide awake, Liana jumped to her feet. Even in the shade of the treehouse, Jambu could see the bright bursts of yellow and pink that flashed through her dark blue scales. 

He nodded eagerly, grinning right back at her.

Liana squealed. "OH MY GOSH! I TOLD YOU!" Playfully, she flapped her wings at him. "I KNEW he'd totally be up for sharing with you! You adorable lucky mess! aaAAA I'M SO HAPPY! And a little jealous. BUT SO HAPPY!"

"I KNOW, I KNOW!" he said, brimming at the same level of excitement. "You were so right! I can't even believe this is really happening!" 

"You have to tell me EVERYTHING after your date!" she continued. "Oh! And make friends with some of the other NightWings, so you can introduce ME to my true love!"

Jambu threw his head back with a laugh. "Alright, alright! I will! I promise!"

"I guess I was right about them sharing, too." Liana giggled as she mused aloud. "But I mean, that's not even a question, really. Who  _ doesn't  _ share?  Remember the time Tinamou had five partners?" She paused, and then jokingly asked, "Are you suuuuure you don't wanna share your new boyfriend with me?"

"I-I dunno if he's my  _ boyfriend, _ " Jambu answered, blushing furiously. 

" _Yet,_ " Liana finished his sentence with a canny look. 

He snorted. "Well, I guess I'll know soon enough, won't I?"

_ Because I'm totally, actually, FINALLY getting a chance with the dragon of my dreams, TOMORROW. _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't expecting this chapter to be finished so quickly (lol surprise!). turns out, platonic Liambu fluff is actually extremely difficult to stop writing. :')


	5. Five

Deathbringer was in a pretty good mood today, all things considered.

Even if he wasn't exactly sure how much he was looking forward to picking fruit with Jambu for an indefinite amount of time. He had agreed to do it, though; and he was a dragon of his word.

He sort of hoped it wouldn't take too long. He was looking forward to seeing Glory again. As soon as possible, preferably. Yesterday, he had finally gotten to tell her all about the little dragonets he'd been getting to know for the past few days. Which he'd been very happy about, for a couple of reasons.

One of his reasons was quite simple: Deathbringer loved his home, and the prospect of nurturing it was of utmost importance to him. The Rainforest Kingdom was honestly just about the most perfect place Deathbringer could imagine residing in for (hopefully) the rest of his life. And Jambu's students, particularly Sundown and Dartfrog, instilled more confidence in him about that the more he learned from them. Confidence he wanted to share with his queen.

Granted, _yes_ — he had firstly had their relationship in mind, hoping as well that his report would serve to brighten his mate up a bit, aaaand perhaps lead to a pleasant afternoon with her... (which, much to his own satisfaction, had worked out rather nicely).

But no personal endeavor would change the fact that he was ever a loyal and proud protector of his kingdom. Even if said endeavor was also, of utmost importance.

Despite living in, and caring as much as he did for the rainforest, however... Deathbringer had certainly never been fruit-picking before.

 _Must be a RainWing thing,_ he'd said to himself, when Jambu had first invited him to go yesterday. And now, as he lay comfortably in a patch of shade below the sun time platforms, waiting for his charge to finish napping, the same thought danced around in his mind.

A long yawn from above brought Deathbringer back to the present: the RainWings were starting to wake up.

He lifted his face to peer up at the platforms just as a dragon stretched herself to her feet and spread her wings, startling a few ruby red birds that had been sitting nearby. Others soon joined her, bringing the treetops to life in a shimmering spectrum. And eventually, one of those dragons, was Prince Jambu.

Bright and pink as ever, Jambu beamed down over the edge of his platform when he spotted Deathbringer waiting below him. Liana's sapphire head popped into view a second later, and she grinned as well. She turned to nudge her best friend until he laughed and leapt from his perch; he spread his wings and glided gracefully down to meet Deathbringer on the ground.

"Hey," he said when he arrived, stifling another laugh. "How long have you been waiting for me?"

"Not too long," Deathbringer answered. He offered a smile back to Jambu's toothy grin.

Jambu ducked his head a bit, and brushed at the floor with one of his front talons. "Heh. That's good." He paused, then peeked back up into his attendant's eyes. "So, uh, you wanna get going?"

The NightWing nodded, rising to his feet. "Lead the way."

The place Jambu took him wasn't far from the RainWing village, but it was quietly tucked away in its own charming little grove. Several different types of trees and vines adorned the space, each offering their own flowers and fruits of many colors and shapes. Deathbringer noticed right away how tidy the undergrowth was, as if it was tended to on a regular basis. He also noticed that while there was far from a crowd here, they weren't alone.

A number of RainWings had already arrived — either in pairs, or small groups of three or four. Deathbringer observed for a moment as each group drifted around, talking and laughing softly as they picked the fruit around them. A few of the partakers nibbled on their fruits as well, but many seemed to be more interested in simply being together.

 _Interesting... They must really enjoy this activity._ That thought unfortunately did nothing to change his own skepticism about trying it out for himself, buuuuut at least it was exercising his natural curiosity.

When he turned his attention back to Jambu, the magenta-pink dragon had his own tail in his talons, fidgeting with it a bit. His gaze was directed downward, but shortly he met Deathbringer's eyes with a shy smile. Deathbringer couldn't help but notice how uncharacteristically reserved he'd been since they'd left the sun time platforms. Which was a little odd. But then again...it wouldn't be the first time Jambu had surprised him.

Perhaps it was nothing.

Perhaps all RainWings preferred their fruit-picking quietly. Perhaps it was even something they did to relax, the way NightWings sometimes read their scrolls. _That_ would certainly be interesting.

"Would you like to begin?" Deathbringer broke the silence.

Jambu giggled softly. "Yeah, sure," he said. He then led Deathbringer to one of the nearest vines, which bore clusters of bright blue, oval-shaped fruits. As Jambu reached out to pick the first one, he looked over at his attendant with another small smile.

Deathbringer forced a smile back. He gingerly glanced up at a neighboring group of three dragons, who didn't seem bothered at all that a NightWing had joined their little soiree. Then he too reached out to pick one of the blue fruit clusters. He stared down at it in his own black talon, blinking once. _Now what?_

He'd meant what he'd said yesterday about probably not eating any — the idea of fruit was nice, and Deathbringer _was_ pretty fascinated by the way these plants had evolved to entice creatures to eat from them and spread their seeds...but he still much preferred meat.

"I'll take it," Jambu piped up, catching Deathbringer's attention. When he looked his way, the prince was holding an empty talon out towards him. He continued, "Whatever you don't want, I mean. I'll eat _all_ the fruits."

Jambu finished his words with a very sincere grin that Deathbringer couldn't help but return.

"You will, will you?" he chuckled as he dropped the blue fruit he'd picked into Jambu's hand.

The RainWing nodded happily, tossing it into his mouth. "Mm-hmm! I could eat this stuff all day." He swallowed, and sighed. "If only my stomach was bigger."

"I suppose that's pretty convenient for me," Deathbringer said.

They moved to a tree with round, reddish-purple fruits next. Jambu stared up at the high branches for a moment, then lifted himself up on his hind legs as he tried to reach up to them. He swiped at one of the fruits, barely missing it, and then lowered himself back down on his haunches with a disappointed snort.

Deathbringer stifled a quiet laugh before taking matters into his own talons; he reached up the same way Jambu had tried to, his bigger build taking him further, and snatched a few of the fruits from the branches. Once he'd lowered himself, he held them out to his companion.

"Here you are," he offered kindly.

And for a moment, Jambu only gazed back at him with large sparkling eyes of gratitude — almost as if he couldn't believe it. Deathbringer blinked, in waiting. Finally, slowly, the prince lowered his gaze to the fruits in Deathbringer's talons. He reached out to take them, very gently.

"Th-Thanks," he breathed. He cradled the fruits close, smiling warmly down at them.

_...Alright._

Deathbringer cleared his throat.

As they moved on to the next tree, Jambu munched on one of his new fruits. Deathbringer looked around again, taking notice of a pair of dragons that picked from a vine with their tails wound together. And a group of three that giggled as they fed raspberries to one another. He found himself wondering, for a brief few seconds, if this was significant; but only a few groups seemed to be enjoying their time so intimately; so Deathbringer shrugged it off, and returned to his own picking.

He continued giving any fruits he picked to Jambu, and Jambu continued smiling at them, and eating them.

They had loosely circled around the grove when Deathbringer started absent-mindedly passing him star fruits. But he stopped short as Jambu let out a rather helpless noise that sounded somewhere between a yelp and a laugh. When the NightWing turned to look at him, he was surprised to see how big Jambu's collection of fruits had gotten. Some of them had even spilled over onto the ground.

"Three moons!" the prince giggled over the pile in his arms. "I think I might have enough for dinner _and_ breakfast tomorrow!"

Deathbringer blinked. "Oh dear... It would appear so. My apologies, Jambu — I thought you were eating them."

"I was! But then I got full," Jambu explained with a cheerful wing-shrug.

"Hmmm." Deathbringer nodded thoughtfully. "Well, if you have enough, shall we stop?"

Jambu grinned. "Sure, that's fine."

"What would you like to do with the rest?"

Jambu said, "I can just take them to my hammock for now; you can help me carry them there, if you want! It's not too far."

"Alright," he agreed.

Deathbringer took half the fruits and followed Jambu out of the grove. Chittering monkeys and squawking birds accompanied the two dragons as they dipped and ducked through the forest in the direction of Jambu's alternate sleeping spot.

After a few moments, Jambu veered upward and landed on a large tree branch with a traditional RainWing hammock attached to it. Deathbringer landed beside him, watching first as the prince traveled nimbly down the branch to the spot where it connected to its enormous tree trunk. When he followed suit, Deathbringer quickly spotted the cozy, dark little hollow above the branch, and observed as Jambu dumped his fruits into it.

Jambu then turned back to his attendant with a smile and held his empty arms out. Deathbringer passed him the remainder of their harvest. Once Jambu finished storing his next few meals away, he turned around again, and settled into a comfortable seat. Then he sighed happily.

"That was a lot of fun," he said. He hesitated before softly adding, "I'm really glad you went with me."

"Of course. I'm glad you enjoyed it," Deathbringer told him with a nod.

Hurriedly, Jambu asked, "You did too, right? E-Enjoyed it, I mean? You've probably never been fruit-picking before, have you? ...Well, until now."

Deathbringer chuckled. "You would be correct." He paused. "It was certainly...different. But yes, I enjoyed it."

It was a half-truth. Or something akin to that, at least. Deathbringer could easily think of a few less enjoyable things. He also didn't see any point in hurting Jambu's feelings with a full description of his thoughts.

In the filtered sunbeams from the canopy, the prince's big brown eyes seemed to glitter right along with his widening smile.

"That's great," he breathed. "Maybe we can go again sometime, if you want to."

"Perhaps." A brief silence passed between them. Then Deathbringer said, "In any case... if you don't mind, I'd like to go check up on the queen. Would you like to meet us back at the royal pavilion in an hour or so?"

"Sure! I can do that!" Jambu happily obliged.

Deathbringer smiled. "Excellent. I'll see you then."

He spread his black wings and bowed low before taking off in that direction, leaving Jambu with his fruits.

* * *

As Deathbringer slipped past the last few hanging vines and emerald leaves approaching Queen Glory's pavilion, he couldn't help but overhear the rather emphatic conversation she was having with one of her other guards.

"Those two _again!?_ " the queen demanded in a frustrated tone. "What is this, the fifth time now?"

"Um...the third, Your Majesty." Deathbringer immediately recognized Heliconia's voice.

Glory growled. "That's still too many times for me." She snorted, and sighed. "Alright. Take Banana and the others, get down there as fast as you can, and see if you can settle the issue. And tell those dragons they are _not_ going to want to be around when their queen shows up in the next half hour."

"At once, Your Majesty," said Heliconia. She hurriedly bowed and took off towards the NightWing village with Banana and a few other RainWing guards close behind.

Deathbringer stepped out onto the pavilion silently, and waited. A few seconds later, the queen heaved another big sigh and swiveled around to face him with a start.

"Deathbringer!" she breathed.

He smiled, and bowed his head. "My queen."

Glory blinked. Then narrowed her eyes.

"How long have you been silently judging my management skills?" she asked.

"Only a moment," Deathbringer admitted with a small laugh.

Glory stifled her own laugh, and to his surprise, she also softened a bit. "It's just Cashew and Fireclaws. Again. I swear I don't know how they find so many ways to stay mad at each other. But I'm about to take my own tail down there and sort them out for good." She ended her explanation with a peachy smile. "How are you?"

"I'm well," he told her. "I can always come back a bit later, though, if you need to focus."

The queen shook her head. "No. I just need a moment to cool down, actually." She sat back on her haunches, and motioned with her wing for him to join her. "Come tell me what you and Jambu have been up to today. I'm sure that will be much nicer to hear about than intertribal squabbling."

"Alright," he said.

Deathbringer obliged without hesitation, coming in closer and taking a seat nearby. He was careful to leave some space between them, and ready to stay with her as long as she needed him to. Though he honestly wasn't very sure where to begin.

"Well," he started, and Glory looked his way. "Jambu's class went well this morning. The dragonets appear to be learning sufficiently." He paused. "Jambu and I went fruit-picking after sun time. A rather odd ritual, that one; but he seemed to enjoy it a lot. And now I'm here."

Glory only stared at him after he finished, silent.

She blinked.

"Fruit-picking?"

"Yes. Don't you know of it?" he asked.

For another moment, Glory was silent. She blinked again, and averted her eyes as she tilted her head down slightly.

Shortly, she directed her gaze back to him, and in a rather skeptical tone, she asked, "You and Jambu went fruit-picking together?"

Deathbringer wrinkled his brow. "...Yes?"

Glory opened her mouth, and closed it again. Deathbringer felt a prickle of awkwardness beginning  to creep up his spine, that grew as he took notice of the bright yellow bubbling up in Glory's ruff. She hid a smile.

"Deathbringer," she very hesitantly said. "Did you go out on a date...with my brother?"

Every muscle in the assassin's body froze at once.

For a second, Deathbringer couldn't even speak.

"I-I beg your pardon!?" he finally sputtered out.

His mate's smile slowly peeled up into a grin.

And then she collapsed into a loud snort that sent her giggling in ways he didn't even know she could giggle. Explosions of yellow attacked her dark green scales as the queen laughed and laughed. Deathbringer could only wait for her to stop, speechless.

"O-Oh, talons and tails!" Glory choked. "I-I'm so sorry! I-I just — I can't —" She coughed, lowering herself to lie down and breathe. "What am I going to _do_ with that dragon!?"

Deathbringer felt warmth rushing to his face, and immediately averted his eyes, shuffling on his talons. The embarrassment that flushed over him made him want to disappear into the darkest shadows of the rainforest.  Every confusing piece of the puzzle was coming together now, but he still could hardly believe it.

"Did he really not tell you what you were doing?" Glory asked.

Deathbringer quickly shook his head; he kept his gaze down. "Moons, no! I-I never would've — It sounded so casual, I just thought — Glory, I —"

"Relax, relax," she cut him off. "I'm not an idiot. I know you wouldn't have gone out with him on _purpose._ I just can't believe he would prank you like that." Deathbringer peeked back up at her. Glory shook her head, and stifled another laugh. "What a little jerk."

As his shocking discomfort began to fade, Deathbringer soon straightened himself back up. He eyed Glory curiously, a bit unsure how to feel about her assumption, though he didn't voice it.

After a moment, Glory continued. "I'm sure he didn't mean any real harm. He's just...a RainWing. For lack of a better explanation. They seem to think everything is perpetually hilarious."

"So I've noticed," Deathbringer said.

"Well, at least now you know what fruit-picking is," she offered with a shrug. Then she admitted, "I probably only know because it was one of the things I had to learn about when I was studying for my royal challenge. Apparently, it's a very popular courtship tradition here."

"They must pick fruit all the time anyway, though? For eating?" he asked, letting his desire for knowledge cast out any remaining insecurity.

The queen nodded. "Of course. But the context makes it quite a different experience. So I've been told."

That made sense. It made a _lot_ of sense, thinking back on the peculiar way the pairs and groups of dragons, and Jambu, had been acting in the grove. Deathbringer hadn't really understood how anyone could be _that_ giddy over acquiring a snack from a tree in the rainforest. Especially when those snacks were widely and readily available at all times, and these dragons ate them every day of their lives.

Glory sighed, getting to her feet again.

"Anyway, I better get going; but thank you for talking to me. I shouldn't be too long. Hopefully." She gave him a playful smile. "You'll have to start thinking of ways to get Jambu back while I'm gone."

"Do you need me to come along?" he quickly asked.

"That won't be necessary. I can handle it," she declined, in a voice that silently added a very clear "and don't follow me, either" at the end of it.

Deathbringer relaxed his muscles that had been ready to jump into action, only a little disappointed. Glory flicked her tail at him before she spread her wings and launched herself into the surrounding trees, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Each and every one of his incredibly vastly confusing thoughts. That he hated to admit, were quickly taking precedence over how badly he already missed his mate.

_A prank?_

Deathbringer wanted to believe that, truly he did. But nothing about the time he'd spent with Jambu today had felt like a prank. He wanted to trust Glory's usually spot-on intuition. But he wasn't sure if he should. He wanted to tell her about all these contradicting feelings. But...for some reason, when he'd had the opportunity, he'd hesitated.

He was at a complete loss on what steps to take next from this ridiculously awkward circumstance. The only thing he knew he _had_ to do, first and foremost, was find out the truth from Jambu himself.

He suspected Glory would probably be gone longer than she'd anticipated, and perhaps Jambu would arrive first. So he settled down on the royal pavilion platform, and waited.

And soon enough, the accuracy of his suspicions was revealed. Buuuut not in exactly the way Deathbringer had imagined.

"DEATHBRINGAAAR! I'M FALLING! CATCH ME I'M GONNA DIE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Deathbringer's head shot up in alarm, just in time to see a grinning bright pink blur plummeting right towards him. He barely had a second to think before he instinctively flared his wings to catch Prince Jambu, who crashed into him and sent them both skidding across the pavilion.

They tumbled to an uncomfortably tangled mess of a stop, after which Jambu immediately burst into laughter. Blushing and bewildered, Deathbringer hurriedly scrambled away.

"J-Jambu!" he choked as he started shaking out his surprise.

"Heehee! Hi," said the RainWing, unfazed. He rolled over onto his tummy, curling his tail and sending a twinkling gaze up at his attendant. "I know I'm a little early...but I didn't wanna wait anymore to see you again!"

Deathbringer paused to glance mindfully at him. He cleared his throat and settled himself further, gathering his courage. He didn't have the first clue how to begin this conversation. But it needed to happen...now. Hesitantly, he took a breath, and extended a talon to Jambu.

Jambu blinked at the offer, then took it, helping himself to his feet. The two dragons held each other's gazes for a long few seconds.

"It's alright," Deathbringer began nervously. "I have something I need to discuss with you, though, before we do anything else. Something rather important."

"You do?" Jambu asked, rounding his eyes.

Deathbringer nodded, and braced himself. "Our fruit-picking earlier. Did you invite me to go as a prank of some sort?"

Jambu's brown eyes somehow managed to grow even larger as he melted into a nearly comical display of worry. It was honestly a bit startling to see the clouds of blue-grey that instantly started rolling through his fuchsia scales.

"A...prank?" he stammered softly. Quickly, he covered his snout with his talons, and looked away for a short moment. Then he shook his head. "No... No, I would _never_ do that! Have you been thinking that this whole time? Oh, gosh."

Deathbringer found himself unable to speak. Mouth agape, he only stared back at the prince.

Jambu tucked his chin, rather bashfully, before he continued. "I-I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean for it to come off that way at all." He peeked back up to meet Deathbringer's eyes. Then he admitted, "I...I really like you. Like, a lot."

For a moment, Deathbringer still couldn't find his voice. He didn't know whether he was more stunned by the truth or the undeniable sincerity with which it'd been revealed. One thing he _did_ know (though he wasn't sure why): he was very relieved that Queen Glory hadn't been a witness to it.

_What would she even think? If she knew about this?_

The NightWing finally sucked in a breath of air as he shut his slacked jaw.

"I see," he forced out the first words of his reply. He _really_ didn't want to upset Jambu further. But he knew his own heart, and he knew what he had to say. "Well. Jambu." Awkwardly, he paused. "I _do_ like you as well; you're a lovely dragon. But..." He coughed slightly. "I — I'm afraid I didn’t realize your intentions. And I can't return your feelings. I'm in love with your sister."

Silence.

A breeze rustled the leaves around them, and a few hidden monkeys chirruped nearby.

Jambu stared at Deathbringer, frozen in time.

Another long, uncomfortable moment passed.

And then he choked, "Oh."

Deathbringer softened as a small wave of guilt passed over him. Not for his own feelings, but for his new friend's obvious pain. After all, no matter what the truth of the matter was, Jambu had seen their "date" as a sign, and therefore had assumed the best. Only to have his hopes smashed in the same day.

"Are you alright?" he cautiously asked.

It was quite discomforting to watch as Jambu forced a tiny smile, and (unsuccessfully) tried to fight back the cloudy sorrow in his scales.

"Y-Yeah!" he said, clearly lying through his teeth. "I'm fine. No problem. I get it."

Deathbringer blinked at him before dropping his gaze to the leaves below his talons.

"Well, uh," Jambu continued after a moment. "I think I'm gonna go...take a nap or something. But I'll see ya later, okay?"

Quickly, Deathbringer snapped his head back up. "Of course. I'll, um. I'll find you."

His charge nodded, and tried to smile again. He'd just about forced all his scales back to pink; but somehow, the color seemed muted, with a much sadder glow than usual. Jambu gave a small dip of the head before he leapt into the air and spiraled away into the forest.

And again, Deathbringer was left with only his thoughts. Which were now just as uncomfortably cheerless as they were still confusing.

He wished he could go after Jambu and brighten him up again. How long, he wondered, would it take before the silly RainWing was back to his normal, innocently happy self? And even if he tried to make that happen...what was there to say?

Would things be awkward between them every time they spoke now?

Deathbringer hoped not. Or at least, not forever. He couldn't do anything about his own romantic loyalties... (as strangely flattering as it was to know that another dragon might want him in the same way he wanted Queen Glory — but he pushed that thought aside — he didn't even like males in that way... _Right?_ He never had before. Not that it even mattered — he was happily mated).

But that brought him back to another question: should he tell Glory about all this?

As hard as he racked his brain, he couldn't decide how he thought she might react to knowing her own brother had real feelings for her mate. Would she be surprised? Would she be angry with him? ...He really didn't want that, not with how upset Jambu already was. And especially since Jambu clearly hadn't known how close Glory and Deathbringer were. Surely Deathbringer personally informing him, and turning him down, would be enough to resolve the issue, without Glory's involvement.

But would he be betraying her by _not_ telling her?

It didn't _feel_ like a betrayal.

Perhaps he was thinking too much. As usual.

What was there to worry about, anyway? It wasn't like Jambu would give him any problems, even if his feelings didn't go away. _He isn't that kind of dragon...but then again, how am I so sure? I barely know him._

Deathbringer shook himself.

He didn't want to think about this anymore. He didn't want to drag it out longer than it needed to be (or get poor Jambu into any unnecessary trouble) by telling Glory every detail, either. So he wouldn't. Simple as that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to any new readers. :) i appreciate all of you so much.
> 
> i hope everyone's enjoying Darkness of Dragons as well — it's my new fav tbh!


	6. Six

_ The queen awoke with a start, straight out of a nightmare, and straight into the cringingly familiar sound of her bodyguard's frantic squawking. She immediately shut her eyes tight and dropped her head back down to the bed of leaves on her treehouse floor, groaning quietly. _

_ Glory allowed herself a moment to settle into reality (even if she'd almost rather be back facing her own fears in slumberland than dealing with Deathbringer's right now). _

_ "How can you be  _ sleeping  _ when your queen needs protection!?" she heard his slightly muffled voice from outside. He was trying to whisper, and failing miserably. _

_ "I-I just dozed off for a second! I've been awake almost —" Banana's anxious voice came next, but Deathbringer jumped back in before he could finish stammering. _

_ "No! No excuses! This is entirely unacceptable!" Deathbringer hissed. "What would you have done if I'd been some conspiring murderous worm? Perfectly able to sneak right into my target's quarters because, oh look, lucky me! Her guard is  _ asleep at the door!"

_ Banana tried again. "I'm not the only —" _

"Anything  _ could happen to her! Don't you realize that!?" _

_ Glory growled, directing her focus inward as she pushed herself up. Silver burbled softly beside her. Gently, Glory scooped the sloth up and placed her to the side, then swept over to the flowered vines of her doorway. She took a deep breath before she snatched them aside. _

_ "Deathbringer!" she snapped. _

_ The NightWing jumped, followed by Banana, and the two dragons immediately lifted their gazes to meet her furious glare, now frozen on the leaf platform outside. _

_ "What are you  _ doing?"  _ she demanded without hesitation. "It's not even dawn yet." _

_ Glory could just barely see the guilt that flashed in his eyes; though she had no idea if it was really there, or just something her expectations had conjured up in the dark. By the colors of the night sky peeking between the trees around them, she guessed that first light was still a few hours away.  _

_ Deathbringer swiftly ducked down into a bow. "Forgive me, Your Majesty," he said. He glanced at Banana and Glory could almost feel the force of his stare. "I stopped by to check on things, and found your guard asleep on duty." _

_ The queen took a big breath in, and exhaled quietly through her nose. A few images from her unconscious were still a little fresh in her mind, and she hoped no one would notice the slight quiver she could feel in her scales. She carefully stepped out onto the platform and looked at Banana.  _

_ Banana looked back at her with wide, rueful  eyes before also dropping to bow.  _

_ "I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he said. "It was an accident." _

_ "One accident is all it takes for —" Deathbringer started. _

_ "Deathbringer," Glory interrupted firmly. "Banana is speaking to me." _

_ She watched her mate twitch and fidget in frustration as he shut his mouth and forced his gaze down to the leaves. She squashed an eye-roll before turning her attention back to Banana. _

_ Banana hesitated. "Um, that's all, really. I guess I just dozed off for a second." _

_ Glory studied him, then glanced to Deathbringer.  _

_ "Surely you weren't alone," she said. She tilted her snout up to the branches above them, and called, "Rafflesia?" _

_ A third RainWing thudded down in front of them only seconds later, and Glory could just make out the distinctive shades of red shifting in her scales.  _

_ "Your Majesty?" Rafflesia said. _

_ "Is that what happened?" Glory asked. _

_ "Yes; I was just about to wake him up when Deathbringer arrived," she told her. _

_ "Alright." Glory turned to look at her bodyguard, who didn't appear to be satisfied with this explanation at all. _

_Deathbringer flung his tail around and over his talons indignantly, squirming a bit as he gave a snort. "That isn't my point. What if_ all _these dragons happened to 'have an accident' in the same night? Who's going to be protecting you then? They_ need _to be aware_ _of the potential consequences of their 'accidents'."_

_ "They  _ are _ aware," Glory insisted immediately. "But they're still dragons, and accidents happen sometimes." She turned to Banana again. "Next time you think you might fall asleep, you should tell someone instead of letting it happen, okay?" _

_ Banana nodded. "Yes, of course, Your Majesty." _

_ "Thank you," said Glory.  _

_ Deathbringer was already shaking his head at them. _

_ "No! This is not sufficient protection!" he said. _

_ Glory sighed. "Deathbringer..." _

_ "Things like this wouldn't happen at all if I was still in charge of guarding you, and you know it! Why can't I have my full position back?" he pleaded anyway. _

_ "Because I gave you an assignment!" Glory stamped a talon, bristling with impatience. "I gave you an order! And I'm giving you another one right now —  _ stop  _ arguing with me,  _ stop  _ harassing my other guards, and if you can't check on me without waking me up in the middle of the night to do these things, then  _ don't." 

_ The queen didn't stick around to stare at the agonized look her bodyguard gave her after that. She lashed her tail, and signaled for her night guards to follow her as she leapt up and into the treetops. She didn't know where she would go so early  _ (just...anywhere away from Deathbringer right now) _ , but she knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep even if she tried. _

* * *

"And we've had eighteen new eggs this week."

_...Errggh. _

Glory rubbed her face, trying much too hard to concentrate on the reports that were being relayed to her. She was exhausted, frustrated, and it certainly wasn't helping that she couldn't stop drifting in and out of relevant memories from earlier this morning. Or...last night? Even time seemed to be blurring around her now. 

_ Focus. Don't think about him. _

"Eighteen?" Glory asked.

She took the scroll that was being held out to her and squinted at it. Her scribe was already busily at work copying the next report. Glory saw her nodding her head as she wrote. 

"Fifteen RainWings; three NightWings," she affirmed. 

"Only three," Glory sighed.

The NightWing paused to look up at her queen. "Don't fret, darling. We're much fewer in number, and you know how horrid our living conditions were for so long. It's expected, even if it's unfortunate. And three is quite good considering the weeks we've had only one, or none at all."

Glory nodded, though she wasn't sure she'd ever figure out how this 'not fretting' thing worked. "Yeah."

Her scribe gave her a half-smile before returning to her writing. A brief moment of silence passed before she next spoke, which was juuuust enough time for Glory's eyes to shut again. She felt her head slowly slipping down, until...

"Five assignment changes."

Glory jumped back out of the fatigue that was slowly taking her hostage. But this time, unlucky for her, it hadn't gone unnoticed. 

"Your Majesty." Her scribe stopped again, and placed the reed she was writing with down on the royal pavilion platform alongside her several scrolls and fruit ink. She gave Glory her full attention, and a rather concerned look. "Are you feeling alright? You seem a little..."

"I'm fine," Glory said quickly. 

"If you'd like to do this later, we can always reschedule."

"No! We can do it now. I'm perfectly fine," she insisted again.

Her company hesitated. "You're also a bad liar, I'm afraid. Especially when you're too tired to keep your own scales in check."

"Greatness," Glory grumbled softly. She nearly let a flicker of surprise come through as well as she glanced down to check the colors she had on display. 

"Don't bother." The NightWing princess wrinkled her snout in a facetious way. "Is it Fireclaws again? She has been  _ very  _ moody lately. Perhaps I should have another talk with her."

Glory perked her ears curiously. "Does she listen to you?"

"Barely," Greatness laughed. 

She went silent, gazing at her queen with dark, thoughtful eyes. "So it's her, then, that's troubling you?"

"No," Glory said, a bit too quickly. She tucked her chin and looked down at the leaves beneath her stiffening talons.  _ Arrghh, stop asking me! I can't tell you about this... Can I?  _ She glanced up at Greatness, wonderingly. 

Knowing her RainWings could barely count, let alone write, Glory had consulted with Deathbringer pretty early on about recruiting one of her new NightWing subjects to help with keeping track of reports and records. Her mate had somehow convinced his former queen's daughter to do it...or so that was how Glory had initially interpreted it; but the more she'd come to know Greatness, the more she'd realized that she actually  _ wanted  _ to be here helping her new queen. It seemed to give her a sense of satisfaction. Deathbringer thought it had something to do with how pleased she was to be relieved of any leadership positions. 

Either way, Greatness had quickly settled into her new job and become a trusted scribe, record keeper, advisor, ( _ and...friend? _ ) to Queen Glory. But her issues with Deathbringer? ...Could she really trust her with that kind of information?

On the one talon, Greatness and Deathbringer clearly had some level of history behind them. Some kind of mutual understanding they'd never shared with her. Which wasn't any of Glory's business, really, even if she couldn't help being curious to know more about it. 

But on the other talon... that history could also mean that Greatness might actually have some sound advice for her. Which might never be revealed unless Glory worked up the nerve to knock on that door. 

_ Should I do it, then? _

_ Should I tell her? _

_ I've been keeping all this to myself for so long...maybe that's why I keep feeling like I'm losing my own sanity. _

Greatness met her eyes in a way that almost made Glory question whether NightWings really couldn't read minds, and Glory found the words slipping out of her mouth before she could do anything else about it.

"I-It's Deathbringer."

She froze, holding her breath as a wave of shock swept down her spine. 

But Greatness only blinked at her, and tilted her head.

"Deathbringer?" she asked.

_ Well...no turning back now.  _

Glory took a deep breath.

"He's been driving me crazy," she explained in a bit of a rush. "He never lets me out of his sight — I had to make my guards ignore his orders, and lie to him about it, to get even a  _ moment  _ to myself. Until recently — only because I found a new assignment for him that's been keeping him busy. I thought things were getting better, but he woke me up hours before sunrise today, bullying my guards and arguing with me about it and —"

"Great moons! Slow  _ down _ , Your Majesty!" Greatness fluffed her starry wings.

"...Sorry."

"No, no; it's alright," she quickly replied. "You're free to talk to me about anything, I just — I didn't realize —" She stopped, and heaved a heavy sigh. The tip of her tail twitched a few times. "Is it really that bad?"

Glory hesitated before nodding her head.

Greatness studied her for a few seconds. She then averted her gaze and shook herself. 

"That poor boy," she said softly. 

Glory blinked in surprise, entirely taken aback.  _ Poor  _ Deathbringer?  _...I'm the one suffering here! Is she serious?  _ But underneath her immediate questions, Glory couldn't help wondering,  _ Is there...something I don't know? _

The NightWing princess had a sad shimmer of nostalgia in her eyes, and a tiny, broken smile on her snout that looked out of place. 

After a moment, Glory swallowed her pride, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Greatness looked her way again. 

"He never told you about his mother?" she asked.

Glory felt a sudden tightness in her chest, and a strange feeling she couldn't quite place that radiated from it.  _ His mother? _

"...No," she answered honestly. Deathbringer hardly ever revealed any details about his life before her. That had never stopped Glory from thinking about it, of course; she'd even considered asking him about it at one point, but had decided against that in the end. If he wanted to keep his past to himself, he had every right to — no matter how curious another dragon might be. That was the kind of respect she'd want to be given, anyway. 

"Hmmm." Greatness nodded thoughtfully. And again, as if reading her queen's mind, she said, "I suppose when he's ready to talk about it again, he will. It's not really my place to say anything."

Glory hesitated. Then a new thought struck her. 

She braced herself. "Is it relevant?" 

"What?" 

"Deathbringer's mother," Glory said. "You wouldn't have brought that up unless you thought it was relevant...right?" 

The NightWing only stared at her with an unreadable expression. 

"Relevant, as in...?" she asked, sounding pretty convincingly like she really didn't know what Glory meant, but the queen knew her better than that.

"Relevant as in," Glory picked up her words, and gave her a keen look. "Might this information help me with him in some way?"

Greatness sighed, letting her wings droop out a bit. "I suppose it might. But I don't feel comfortable giving away Deathbringer's secrets. I assume there's a reason he's kept it to himself." She paused. "And he trusts me."

Even when she said things like that, Greatness never sounded perfectly sure of herself. 

"He trusts you?" Glory asked.

The NightWing lowered her chin and nodded slowly. The sad, strange look from before was back on her face, and for a moment, she was lost in her thoughts. Or, memories? When she found herself again, Greatness did her best to smile through them. 

"I knew her," she began. "His mother — Quickstrike." Glory perked up to listen. Greatness shuffled her wings slightly. "She was our tribe's assassin, and a close friend of mine. Mother didn't like it, but...I didn't care. It wasn't like I had anyone else."

_ They were friends? Then that must mean...  _ Glory curled her tail as she thought about that. 

"So...Deathbringer has known you..."

"Since he was an egg," Greatness finished her thought. She released a soft, forlorn sigh. "Quickstrike made me promise to watch over him if anything ever happened to her." Then quietly, she added, "I'm not sure how well I've kept that promise."

Glory studied the princess for a moment. 

"What happened to her?" she finally asked.

Greatness averted her dark eyes, and stifled a nervous laugh. "That's where my story ends, I'm afraid," she said, fidgeting the tip of her tail. "Deathbringer might tell you more, if you really want to know." She paused. "Unfortunately, none of our dragonets ever had the lives they deserved." 

"Do you think I  _ should _ ask him?" Glory said.

"You can if you'd like," Greatness told her. "I'm not saying anything he's been through justifies his behavior now. But it might help you understand him a bit better, if he chooses to share it with you." 

Glory stayed silent for a moment. Then Greatness hesitantly asked, “Have you told him any of the things you just told me?” 

“...No.” Glory looked away. “I haven’t.”

“I see,” said the NightWing. “Well. That might be something to think about, too.”

“...Yeah.”

Glory really didn't know  _ what _ she wanted to do yet.  _ I'm still angry with him, no matter how sad this mysterious story might be...and I'm too tired to deal with anything else right now. Maybe after sun time, I’ll talk to him.  _ She perked up at the idea of sleep, and almost involuntarily lifted her face to gaze longingly at the near-perfect placement of the sun above the canopy. 

Greatness must have spotted the starved look in her eye as well, for her gentle laugh interrupted their silence a second later. Glory blinked herself back to reality, and looked to her.

"Why don't you go ahead?" Greatness said. "It's alright to start your sun time early every once in awhile. And honestly, I can tell how badly you need it just by looking at you."

Glory quickly stifled the prickle of orange surprise climbing up her spine, and the bashful pink blossoming in her ruff.  _ Is it really that obvious?  _

She wanted to decline the offer again, just keep pretending she was fine and could keep going with all her queenly duties for another eternity. But she knew, and she knew Greatness knew, how impossibly difficult that would be for her, if she didn't sleep first.

Glory finally said, "Y'know...I think I will."

Greatness smiled, and bowed her head. 

The next few moments brought the RainWing queen up to her favorite spot on her favorite sun time platform. She circled around before she spread her wings wide and settled down with the biggest breath she'd taken all day. And as her body melted into the leaves with the long slow sigh that followed, Glory could already feel the midday sunshine carrying her away.

Then she opened her eyes.

And a little gold dragon was smiling at her. 

"Sunny!" Glory breathed. For a second, she almost forgot she was asleep. She swiftly sat up and fluffed her wings to chase away the tiny starbursts of rose and amber that were already peeking out in her scales. 

"Oh, gosh," Sunny stifled a giggle. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't!" said Glory in a rush. "I mean, um. It's fine." She paused. "Hello."

"Hi," said Sunny.

The two dragons stared at each other, and Sunny blinked. The tip of her harmless tail swayed thoughtfully as she tilted her head.

"Did you forget I was coming today?" she asked.

_...Yes.  _

Glory tucked her chin slightly. "Maybe," she sighed.

She had indeed, guilty as charged,  _ completely  _ forgotten about Sunny's scheduled dreamvisit.  _ Should I apologize? Explain myself? ...Ugh, I'm so over today.  _ But as annoyed as she was with herself and her current troubles, that sentiment did not reach over to Sunny. 

Sunny eyed her perceptively for a moment. She took a step or two closer to Glory's spot on the sun time platform, and wrinkled her snout.

"You look very tired, even in your sleep," she observed.

"Thanks," said Glory. 

Sunny laughed, cupping a talon over her snout as she sat back on her haunches. "Sorry... I just meant — if you  _ are  _ very tired, I don't want to take up all your sun time."

"I'm fine," Glory told her.

"Hmmmm," Sunny gave her a playful-suspicious look. 

"Really, I am." She hesitated. "Well —  _ mostly _ fine. But you don't have to leave. I'm definitely fine enough for a dreamvisit."

Sunny studied the RainWing queen with a creased brow, clearly considering the words; she almost never stayed if she thought Glory needed more rest. Which Glory appreciated a lot, even if she'd never actually told her that. But sometimes — times like these — a visit with Sunny was almost just as good as sleep. 

Ever since Glory's friends had started the Jade Mountain Academy, Sunny had been checking in on the rainforest, and Glory, nearly every week without fail. If she couldn't make it, she sent someone else, and the others visited her regularly as well. But no one dedicated as much time to it as Sunny. Glory knew that was just who she was, but it still made her feel pretty nice. 

The little SandWing hybrid eyed her up and down. "Well...alright," she said. She smiled again, and her moss green eyes twinkled knowingly. "But I won't stay too long. You need your rest, Glory; that's really very important." 

"I know," Glory sighed.  _ Trust me, I know. _

"So, how is everything?" Sunny asked.

Glory hesitated. 

Sometimes it took all her strength to keep from blurting about her problems to Sunny — even her problems with Deathbringer. She'd never really been afraid of what Sunny might think about them. Sunny never judged her about anything. But her other friends? Tsunami and Starflight, in particular. They'd never trusted Deathbringer. Or, Glory had never felt they did, anyway. She never, ever,  _ ever _ wanted them to find out that things weren't perfect between her and her mate. She couldn't bear to think about the obnoxious "I told you so"s, and the inevitable know-it-all look she'd get from Starflight that always made her want to scratch his snout right off his pompous little face. 

If that meant also keeping the truth from Sunny, then so be it. 

Even if she still felt a little rotten about how quickly that instinct always hit her. 

_ Do I really need to worry about her telling them? Sunny's grown up a lot... She probably wouldn't let anything slip if I told her not to,  _ Glory thought.

_...But I don't want to drag her into this, either. She doesn't need to know. One friend knowing is quite enough for now.  _

Glory brought her gaze to the leaves Sunny sat on, and the uncanny way her body didn't sink down into them when she wasn't really there. A few more RainWings snoozed comfortably around them, completely unaware that their queen was up and talking in her dreams. It was a little strange when Glory's dreams were in the same exact location she'd fallen asleep, but she didn't really care as long as it worked.

"Things are alright," Glory said finally, meeting Sunny's eyes again. "I've just been dealing with Fireclaws' drama again for the past couple days. Nothing I do seems to satisfy that dragon."

"Oh, yikes," said Sunny. "That's been going on a while, hasn't it?" She shifted her wings, then rolled her shoulders with an undaunted expression. "Well. I'm sure we could come up with a good plan if we put our heads together. Do you want me to come back sooner? I could even do tomorrow, if you want." She paused. "And if you've had enough rest."

"I dunno," Glory nearly mumbled. "I feel like I've tried just about everything at this point."

"Hey," Sunny said softly, reaching a wing out even though she couldn't do anything with it here in a dream. Glory looked up at her. "Don't give up. You're a great queen — I know you can handle it. We just need to figure it out first. Okay?"

"...Alright." 

Sunny smiled. "Tomorrow, then? Same time?"

Glory had to fight to keep the pink from showing in her ruff. 

Sometimes she wasn't sure if she even deserved Sunny's help after all the years she'd spent underestimating her; but Sunny really enjoyed helping, and whenever Glory voiced any of her troubles, Sunny was quick to jump right in with her own suggestions. And the more Glory listened to them, the more she'd come to realize just how clever her friend was. 

She just also sort of wished it hadn't taken one-on-one dreamvisits (in which talking over Sunny wasn't as easily accomplished) for her to come to see it so clearly. But if it had ever haunted Sunny before, it certainly didn't anymore.  _ So maybe I should try letting go of it too.  _

"Sure," she said. "Let's try tomorrow."

The little gold dragon brightened even more. 

"That's the spirit!" she said cheerily.

Glory let a tiny smile sneak onto her face. 

Suddenly, Sunny gasped and clasped her talons over her snout, her green eyes blinking wide.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" she exclaimed. She lowered her talons to reveal a big toothy grin. "Before I go... I have some incredible news that will probably cheer you up!" 

"Oh, yeah? What is it?" Glory asked, perking her ears.

The SandWing looked as though she might explode from her joy at any moment. She stifled a laugh, fidgeting a bit. "It's Tsunami. She's...she's with egg!"

_ Oh. _

Glory stiffened as prickles of emerald scratched at the surface of her scales. She couldn't tell if she was caught more off guard by the news itself or the fact that it could still affect her like this. 

_ Why do I even care? I've been over that for years now, haven't I? And it's not like I didn't see it coming.  _

_ I should just be happy for them. _

_ C'mon, Glory, they're your friends.  _

She forced her best happy look. "Really? Wow! You'll have to tell her and Clay I said congratulations." 

"I will!" Sunny nearly squealed. "Aaaahh, you should've just  _ seen _ Clay when Tsunami told us! He's going to be such a perfect dad! I'm so excited for them!" 

Sunny paused for a moment, her eyes sparkling dreamily. "Almost makes me wish I could have my own eggs," she sighed. But quickly, she giggled over it, and gave Glory a dashing little smile. "But, y'know."

Glory blinked at her, unsure of how to respond, even if she knew exactly what Sunny meant by that. Glory also couldn't help but note the extra surge in Sunny's confidence that had taken place ever since she'd opened up to everyone about preferring females. The way Sunny glowed now made it difficult for Glory to imagine talking over her even if she still wanted to.

_ I wonder if I'll ever feel that good about myself. _

Glory shook her thoughts away.

"Heh, yeah," she said. "I guess we're gonna be aunts, then, huh?"

"I KNOW!" Sunny cried. "Can you believe it!? Fatespeaker's really excited too. I managed to get her away from Starflight for a minute and she's agreed to help me set up a hatchery in one of the empty caves. But it's a total surprise right now, so shhhh." She jokingly raised a talon to her mouth. 

Glory stifled a slightly awkward laugh. "That's great! I bet they'll love it." She paused. "Sooooo, should I be expecting this hatchery to have some NightWing eggs before long, too?"

"Oh, my!" said Sunny. "Fatespeaker hasn't said anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was next, honestly. She and Starflight have been inseparable lately. It's really kind of adorable." She looked away for a second, smiling bashfully. "I'm really glad he's happy with her."

"Yeah." Glory flicked the tip of her tail. "Me too."

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Then Sunny met her eyes again. 

Glory had only just noticed the sunshine dancing on her friend's golden scales; she wondered if she was imagining things or if Sunny just liked the way she looked when it cloaked her. 

"I should let you rest," she said. 

"Alright," said Glory. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, though!" Sunny assured her. "And then we can get to work on  _ Operation Fireclaws. _ " She raised her eyebrows.

Glory couldn't help but laugh again, and quickly smothered it. "Okay, but...don't worry too much about me if something comes up at the school. I'll be fine if you can't make it."

"Oh, I'm not worried," Sunny replied matter-of-factly. "I  _ know _ you'll be fine, no matter what. You're the best queen in Pyrrhia. Right beside Thorn, of course."

Glory snorted, hurrying to squash the rosy speckles that were already threatening to slither out onto her wings and ruff. 

Sunny gave her a warm smile. "Bye, Glory."

"Bye." Glory extended a wing to wave. 

She watched as Sunny closed her eyes and lifted the star-shaped sapphire to her forehead, and then she was gone. 

A few hours later, Glory woke up feeling surprisingly rejuvenated.

_ No Sunny... Guess I'm not dreaming this time.  _

She lifted her gaze to the shimmering hues of emerald leaves for a moment, then scanned the nearly-empty platforms around her.  _ Looks like I overslept, too. Almost everyone's gotten up but me.  _ She sighed.  _ Perfect.  _

_ But at least I feel a little better. _

Glory stretched up to her feet, arching her back and unfurling her wings before shaking herself from horns to tail. She allowed herself a big yawn as she shifted her scales to a warm dark sangria. Then she moved to the edge of her platform and crouched, readying for takeoff. 

The queen swept low first, enjoying the breeze that nipped between her scales. When she'd finished that silly little moment of self-indulgence, she started the short journey back to the royal pavilion. 

And when she arrived, a certain black dragon was already there, waiting for her.

_ Ugh... Just, stay calm. You need to talk to him, anyway.  _ Glory still tensed up a bit as she floated down to the platform, and softly landed across from Deathbringer. 

Awkwardly and hesitantly, the two dragons made eye contact. Then Glory took a big breath, and approached her mate. She didn't really know  _ what  _ she was expecting, but still found herself a bit surprised when the NightWing immediately spread his wings and knelt down into possibly the lowest bow he could achieve. 

"Glory..." he whispered miserably. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Again. I was completely out of line, and..." he sighed. "I-I really didn't mean to ruin your morning. I'm so, so sorry." 

Glory could only stare at him for a moment, mouth agape.

She closed it again, and blinked. 

"I forgive you," she told him plainly. 

Deathbringer lifted his face to send hopeful eyes her way. "You do?" he asked.

Glory softened. 

"Of course I do," she said. "I mean, yeah, I was mad. I'm still a little mad. But I'll always forgive you. Well, probably. Assuming you  _ don't  _ end up decimating someone in a rage-fit over their incompetence, or something."

"I would never!" he protested.

She gave him a tiny, rueful smile. "I know." She paused. "But...Deathbringer, we still have to talk about this."

He sighed and nodded, getting back to his haunches in front of her. "Indeed. I came prepared for that."

Glory hesitated, looking at him.

"We have a lot to talk about, actually," she breathed, and steadied herself as a rush of guilt hit her chest. "I haven't been completely honest with you lately. And I want to amend that, because it's not okay. But I really,  _ really _ need you to listen to me."

Deathbringer quickly straightened his posture and gave her his fiercest "listening" look, which only served as another punch to Glory's heart. He didn't even seem angry with her for her admitted dishonesty.  _ Did he already know? _

"Yes?" he said.

Glory cleared her throat, and met his eyes.  _ Now or never, either way. I have to do this. _

"I need a break," she forced out.

He blinked at her, surprised. Then he asked, "A break? From being queen?"

Glory closed her eyes. She opened them a moment later, bracing herself with a swallow of nerves, and tried to stop the tremor in her wings. 

"No," she choked. "Deathbringer... I-I need a break, from you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry to break all the ripnami/cleril hearts. i am your worst nightmare — the claynami trash lord. (please don’t hate me hjsdgfiadhfo;asjf;)
> 
> AHEM. 
> 
> anyways, i regret to announce that updates will be less frequent for a while, as my summer is over and it is time for the homework gods to start punching me in the face for another eighteen weeks.
> 
> thank you to everyone who is still reading. ;w;


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